Theron changes his team for opener
South Africa Under-20 coach Dawie Theron has named his team to take on Scotland in their opening Pool C match at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Padua (Padova) on Friday.
There are eight changes in the starting line-up from the team that defeated the Eastern Province Kings XV 31-16 during the Baby Boks’ final warm up match which was played in Port Elizabeth last month.
The Springbok Sevens duo of Tshotsho Mbovane and Paul Jordaan – Craven Week stars in recent years – will both earn their first starts for the national Under-20 team.
Jordaan will partner vice-captain François Venter in the midfield, while Mbovane, together with Ulrich Beyers (fullback) will form a back-three which includes Super Rugby player Wandile Mjekevu who competed in last year’s tournament in Argentina.
Up front, a new front row combination will feature following the inclusion of props Juan Schoeman, Nic Schonert and hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Western Province’s Eben Etzebeth – a Varsity Cup star for UCT this season – will partner former SA Schools representative Jean Cook, a Varsity Shield winner with CUT, at lock.
Siya Kolisi, who competed in last year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina, will earn his sixth SA Under-20 cap on Friday. He, together with captain Arno Botha and flank François Kleinhans, rounds off the loose forward trio for the South Africans.
New SA U20 boss Theron said: “The guys have settled in well since arriving on Sunday, and have enjoyed some good training sessions, despite the heavy rain all week.
“We know what our strengths are, and we’ll be silly to deviate away from that, be it against Scotland or any team in this competition. But our focus all week has been Friday night’s game. we’ve got to build momentum through this tournament, and one of the ways to do so is to perfect the basics in our own game.
“There has been plenty of talk in Italy about how teams will play an expansive game. To me, there’s different opinion that defines an expansive approach and we as a team have our own thoughts and plans around expansive rugby.
“I know everyone wants to see tries, and it would be great to score as many as we can, but we’ll have to put in the hard yards first, and earn the right to play expansive if we going to earn the right to play that way.”
The teams:
SA Under-20: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Tshotsho Mbovane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 François Venter, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Pieter Rademan, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 François Kleinhans, 5 Eben Etzebeth, 4 Jean Cook, 3 Nic Schonert, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 John Roy Jenkinson, 18 Ruan Venter, 19 Cornell du Preez, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 John Welthagen, 22 Craig Barry.
Scotland (squad): Sam Atkin, Mark Bennett, Glenn Bryce, Michael Doneghan, Danny Gilmour, Stuart Edwards, Kerr Gossman, Stuart Hogg, Craig Jackson, Sean Kennedy, Jamie Stevenson, Duncan Weir, Alex Allan, David Cherry, Mitch Eadie, Richard Ferguson, Robin Hislop, George Hunter, Robert McAlpine, Colin Phillips, Grant Runciman, Alex Spence, Jamie Swanson, Mitchell Todd, James Tyas, Hamish Watson
Date: Friday, 10 June 2011
Kick-off: 20.10 (The match will be broadcast on Supersport 1)
Venue: Stadio Plebiscito in Padua
Expected weather conditions: 40% chance of thunderstorms, a high of 25°C, dropping to 16°C
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Jonathon White (New Zealand), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
