Wholesale changes for Junior Boks

 

The young South African's won the first meeting between the two sides 25-22 on Tuesday in Santa Fe. 

 

Both teams are using the two-match series as their final warm-up for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship which will be hosted by Italy in June.

 

Theron elected to retain only five players from the starting fifteen which managed to edge Los Pumitas, while he opted also for two positional changes.

 

Tighthead prop Thomas du Toit, Jason Jenkins (lock), Leolin Zas (left wing), Daniel du Plessis (inside centre) and JT Jackson (outside centre) will all start in their second tour match. No.8 Dan du Preez and right wing Grant Hermanus will however run out in different positions.

 

Du Preez moves to flank while Hermanus will wear the No.15 jersey. Fullback Warrick Gelant and prop Frans van Wyk were not considered for selection because of shoulder injuries.

 

Hanro Liebenberg of the Blue Bulls returns to the starting line-up at the back of the scrum and will also take over the captaincy from Rikus Bothma who led the side in Santa Fe. Liebenberg sat out the first tour match as a precaution for his troubled hand.

 

Theron said the changes are part of the rotation plan to give each player some game time on tour," said Theron.

 

"This tour is our last opportunity to have a close look at some combinations and to experiment with aspects of our game plan. 

 

"We worked extremely hard in training to try and rectify our errors. Argentina gave us a huge wake-up call and I am glad the players responded very positively to that."

 

The Junior Springbok coach added his team will now aim to start the rematch in a much more controlled manner.

 

"They [Los Pumitas] disrupted us in the first-half and did extremely well to stop us from getting momentum. That was because they were quick and clever at the breakdown and also moved the ball fast when in possession. 

 

"It was the first match away from home for many of our players and I hoped they have learnt from the mistakes.

 

"On Saturday our aim will be to start in a more controlled and calm manner so that we can impose our game plan. 

 

"Our forwards showed how strong we are at set-pieces and if we can manage to secure more quality possession and be patient, then our backs will show their quality," said Theron.

 

 

South Africa Under-20: 15 Grant Hermanus 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 JT Jackson, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (Captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Dan du Preez, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Jan van der Merwe, 1 Mzamo Majola.

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Njabulo Gumede, 18 Ruan Kramer, 19 Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Rikus Bothma, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuuren, 22 Ernst Stapelberg, 23 Malcom Jaer. 

 

Date: Saturday, May 16

Venue: Gimnasia y Esgrima Club, Rosario

Kick-off: 14.00 (19.00 SAST; 17.00 GMT)

Referee: Federico Cuesta (Argentina)