Under-20 Championship, Round three - teams and predictions
PREVIEW: Loose forward Thando Biyela will lead the Junior Springboks in their third and final Pool A match at the World Rugby U20 Championship against Scotland on Wednesday at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano.
Even though the SA U20 side shows several rotational changes from the team that beat England in their previous group match in Rovigo, the match-23 to face Scotland is a strong combination filled with experience.
Fullback Gilermo Mentoe, right wing Cheswill Jooste, outside centre Gino Cupido, and flyhalf Vusi Moyo are retained from the starting fifteen that defeated England on Friday evening.
Upfront, Matt Romao (loose forward), Jaco Grobbelaar (lock), Jean Erasmus and Oliver Read (both props), and Jaundre Schoeman (hooker) all provided impact off the bench against Australia and England, and are now in the starting pack.
According to Kevin Foote, the Junior Springbok head coach, they’ve named a team that will play this important pool game with real purpose and pride against a very good Scotland side. A win will solidify the Junior Boks’ top spot in Pool A.
“We are fortunate that the players in our match-23 have experience playing for the Junior Boks against Georgia, in the U20 Rugby Championship, and also in our warm-up matches against Kenya,” said Foote.
“It is a tremendous honour for any player to represent the Junior Boks and the starting fifteen for Wednesday have earned that right because everyone has worked extremely hard to be considered.
“Thando has captained us earlier this year, Stephanus Linde played for us against Georgia, while Matt Romao was our Man of the Match against Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
“Jaco Williams, Jaco Grobbelaar, and Oliver Reid have all seen a lot of action in the two previous group matches, while we have more experience that will come off the bench in Herman Lubbe, JJ Theron, Batho Hlekani, and Haashim Pead.”
The Junior Bok coach described the team to face Scotland as an experienced selection with exciting combinations.
“We have players who we believe have a lot of experience, they know our game very well, and they have a lot of hunger to do well against what will be a highly motivated Scotland on Wednesday,” said Foote.
Foote said they have done their homework on Scotland, know what to expect from them, and have a very healthy respect for the Scottish.
“We have a strong desire to improve and we are determined to keep building on our game model and to make sure we maintain our synergy and cohesion as a team,” he said.
“Everyone understands the threat that Scotland brings, and we feel they have played some good rugby. They attack well and their set piece has been solid; so, they will pose a very big threat for us, and we will not underestimate them. We are looking forward to meeting an exciting challenge on Wednesday.”
All the Round three teams and predictions follow below…
An absolute beauty by the #JuniorBoks 😮💨#JourneyToGreatness pic.twitter.com/uzJp8Jwowj
— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) July 7, 2025
Wednesday, July 9:
Wales v Spain
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off 15.30 local and Spain time; 14.30 BTS; 13.30 GMT)
Predictions:
Rugby365: Wales by five points
Teams:
Wales: 15 Lewis Edwards, 14 Elijah Evans, 13 Osian Darwin-Lewis, 12 Elis Price, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Harri Wilde, 9 Ellis Lewis, 8 Harry Beddall (captain), 7 Caio James, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Nick Thomas, 4 Luke Evans, 3 Jac Pritchard, 2 Evan Wood, 1 Ioan Emanuel.
Replacements: 16 Jake Bowen, 17 Owain James, 18 Sam Scott, 19 Dan Gemine, 20 Evan Minto, 21 Sion Davies, 22 Harri Ford, 23 Jack Woods.
Spain: 15 Beltran Ortega, 14 Pablo Mateos, 13 Oriol Marsinyac, 12 Hugo Pichardie, 11 Jorge Garreta, 10 Lucien Richardis, 9 Nicolas Infer, 8 Manez Pujana, 7 Marcos Lopez, 6 Unax Salvador, 5 Liam Mcnamee, 4 Guardin Gonzalez, 3 Guido Reyes, 2 Pau Massoni (captain), 1 Hugo Gonzalez.
Replacements: 16 Marcos Perez, 17 Alberto Gomez, 18 Emilio Gutierrez, 19 Victor Ofojetu, 20 Marcal Carreras , 21 Nicolas Gali, 22 Gonzalo Otamendi, 23 Telmo Fisher.
Referee: Lex Weiner (USAR)
Assistant Referees: Peter Martin (IRFU) & Alex Frasson (FIR)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
South Africa v Scotland
(Stadio San Michelle, Calvisano – Kick-off: 15.30 local and SA time; 14.30 BST; 13.30 GMT)
Predictions:
Rugby365: South Africa by 15 points
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Dominic Malgas, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Stephanus Linder, 7 Matt Romao, 6 Thando Biyela (Captain), 5 Morne Venter, 4 Jaco Grobbelaar, 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Oliver Reid.
Replacements: 16 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 JJ Theron, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Ian van der Merwe, 23 Demitre Erasmus.
Scotland: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Nairn Moncrieff, 13 Angus Hunter, 12 Jack Hocking, 11 Cameron van Wyk, 10 Isaac Coates, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Reuben Logan, 7 Freddy Douglas (captain), 6 Oliver Duncan, 5 Charlie Moss, 4 Mark Fyffe, 3 Jamie Stewart, 2 Seb Stephen, 1 Jake Shearer.
Replacements: 16 Joe Roberts, 17 Will Pearce, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Bart Godsell, 20 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 21 Noah Cowan, 22 Matthew Urwin, 23 Jed Findlay.
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Tomas Bertazza (UAR) & Alberto Favaro (FIR)
TMO: Graham Cooper (RA)
England v Australia
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off 18.00; 01.00 AEST; Thursday July 10 ; 17.00 BST; 16.00 GMT)
Prediction:
Rugby365: England by 10 points
Teams:
England: 15 Josh Bellamy, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Campbell Ridl, 12 Nic Allison, 11 Tyler Offiah, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Kane James, 7 Connor Treacey, 6 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, 5 Junior Kpoku, 4 Olamide Sodeke, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 2 Kepu Tuipulotu, 1 Ralph McEachran.
Replacements: 16 Alfie Longstaff, 17 Oli Scola, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Seb Kelly, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Jack Bracken, 23 Will Knight.
Australia: 15 Sid Harvey, 14 Cooper Watters, 13 Liam Grover, 12 Malakye Enasio, 11 Nicholas Conway, 10 Joey Fowler, 9 James Martens, 8 Aden Ekanayake, 7 Tom Robinson, 6 Charlie Brosnan, 5 Eamon Doyle (captain), 4 Joe Mangelsdorf, 3 Edwin Langi, 2 Lipina Ata, 1 Finn Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Barrett, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Trevor King, 19 Ollie Aylmer, 20 Eli Langi, 21 Toby Brial, 22 Hwi Sharples, 23 Joe Dillon.
Referee: Jérémy Rozier (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (FIR) & Peter Martin (IRFU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
New Zealand v Ireland
(Stadio San Michelle, Calvisano – Kick-off: 18.00; 04.00 NZST, Thursday, July 10; 17.00 BST; 16.00 GMT)
Prediction:
Rugby365: New Zealand by 12 points
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Rico Simpson, 14 Frank Vaenuku, 13 Cooper Roberts, 12 Jack Wiseman, 11 Maloni Kunawave, 10 Will Cole, 9 Dylan Pledger, 8 Mosese Bason, 7 Caleb Woodley, 6 Finn McLeod, 5 Jayden Sa, 4 Xavier Treacy, 3 Robson Faleafā, 2 Manumaua Letiu (captain), 1 Sika Pole.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Kempton, 17 Israel Time, 18 Dane Johnston, 19 Aisake Vakasiuola, 20 Micah Fale, 21 Jai Tamati, 22 James Cameron, 23 Stan Solomon.
Ireland: 15 Daniel Green, 14 Charlie Molony, 13 Ciarán Mangan, 12 Jonny Scott, 11 Derry Moloney, 10 Tom Wood, 9 Will Wootton, 8 Luke Murphy, 7 Oisin Minogue, 6 Éanna McCarthy (captain), 5 Billy Corrigan, 4 Conor Kennelly, 3 Alex Mullan, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Alex Usanov.
Replacements: 16 Luke McLaughlin, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Tom McAllister, 19 David Walsh, 20 Bobby Power, 21 Clark Logan, 22 Sam Wisniewski, 23 Gene O’Leary Kareem.
Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Morgan White (HKCR) & Lorenzo Pedezzi (FIR)
TMO: Dan Jones (RFU)
France v Argentina
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off: 20.30; 15.30 ART; 18.30 GMT)
Prediction:
Rugby365: France by five points
Teams:
France: 15 Jon Echegaray, 14 Nolann Donguy, 13 Robin Taccola, 12 Kalvin Gourgues, 11 Tom Leveque, 10 Luka Keletaona, 9 Simon Daroque, 8 Elyjah Ibsaiene, 7 Antoine Deliance, 6 Baptiste Britz, 5 Charles Kante-Samba, 4 Bartholome Sanson, 3 Mohamed Megherbi, 2 Lyam Akrab, 1 Edouard-Junior Jabea Njocke.
Replacements: 16 Quentin Algay, 17 Lorencio Boyer Gallardo, 18 Lenny Alifanety, 19 Corentin Mezou, 20 Mathis Baret, 21 Baptiste Tilloles, 22 Diego Jurd, 23 Fabien Brau Boirie.
Argentina: 15 Pascal Senillosa, 14 Timoteo Silva, 13 Pedro Coll, 12 Felipe Ledesma, 11 Bautista Lescano, 10 Ramon Fernandez Miranda, 9 Fabricio Griffo, 8 Santiago Neyra, 7 Pampa Storey, 6 Franco Benitez, 5 Tiziano Barrios, 4 Tomas Duclos, 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Tadeo Ledesma Arocena, 1 Diego Correa.
Replacements: 16 Jeronimo Otano, 17 Nicanor Rins, 18 Gael Galvan, 19 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 20 Tomas Dande, 21 Valentino Reggiardo, 22 Matias Cordero, 23 Aquiles Vieyra.
Referee: Marcus Playle (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (FIR) & Franco Rosella (FIR)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (SARU)
Georgia v Italy
(Stadio San Michelle, Calvisano – Kick-off: 20.30; 22.30 GET; 18.30 GMT)
Prediction:
Rugby365: Italy by 12 points
Teams:
Georgia: 15 Luka Takaishvili, 14 Luka Keshelava, 13 Sandro Meskhidze, 12 Nugzar Kevkhishvili, 11 Tariel Burtikashvili, 10 Gigi Sirbiladze, 9 Giorgi Spanderashvili, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Andro Dvali, 6 Giorgi Ardzenadze, 5 Gagi Margvelashvili, 4 Temur Tshulukidze, 3 Mate Ghurtskaia, 2 Mikheil Khakhubia, 1 Bachuki Baratashvili.
Replacements: 16 Shota Kheladze, 17 Giorgi Turashvili, 18 Giorgi Meskhidze, 19 Nikoloz Chkhortolia, 20 Davit Baramia, 21 Temur Dzodzuashvili, 22 Data Akhvlediani, 23 Nika Abesadze.
Italy: 15 Gianmarco Pietramala, 14 Alessandro Drago, 13 Edoardo Todaro, 12 Riccardo Casarin, 11 Federico Zanandrea, 10 Roberto Fasti, 9 Niccolo Beni, 8 Nelson Casartelli, 7 Antony Italo Miranda, 6 Giacomo Milano (captain), 5 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 4 Mattia Midena, 3 Nicola Bolognini, 2 Nicolo Michele Corvasce, 1 Sascha Mistrulli.
Replacements: 16 Alessio Caiolo-Serra, 17 Sergio Pelliccioli, 18 Luca Trevisan, 19 Simone Fardin, 20 Piero Gritti, 21 Carlo Antonio Bianchi, 22 Luca Rossi, 23 Riccardo Ioannucci.
Referee: Katsuki Furuse (JRFU)
Assistant Referees: Tomas Bertazza (UAR) & Morgan White (HKCR)
TMO: Graham Cooper (RA)
