Dawie Theron changes South Africa for Under-20s fifth place match: Junior World Championship
South Africa Rugby Union’s Under-20 squad’s head coach Dawie Theron has made four changes in his side for their upcoming International Rugby Board’s (IRB) 2011 Junior World Championships (JWC) fifth position match. Baby Boks will take on the Fiji Under-20
side on Sunday, June 26 at Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso.
Theron announced his side on Saturday, June 25 in which he has preferred to make no changes in his backline that helped the Boks defeat Ireland 57 – 15 on Wednesday, June 22.
The changes were made in the forwards pack, which includes Juan Schoeman, Jon Roy Jenkinson, Bongi Mbonambi and Nizaam Carr. Francois Kleinhans has been moved on to the bench for Sunday’s encounter, as Carr will take the field as the centre in the starting
xv. The Duo of Schoeman and Jenkinson along with the hooker Bongi Mbonambi will form the formidable front row pack for the Baby Boks.
South Africa finished second in pool C with 11 points behind England as the South Africans won two of their three games in the tournament. Their only defeat came at the hands of England at 26 – 20 on June 18 at Padova.
Theron has praised his team’s efforts in the tournament. He said, “This team have shown plenty of promise and have played some entertaining rugby during parts of the tournament. We've scored the second most points in the tournament to date, and also the
third most tries of all twelve teams after four matches.”
However, he was quick to highlight the grey areas in their performances that have cost them a place in the JWC title semi-finals. He said, “Unfortunately the flip side to that is there have been moments where we failed to maintain our composure and patience;
and possibly that's why we are playing for fifth tomorrow and not ending off for a higher position. In a tournament such as this, the margin for error is small, and I guess we have paid the price for not capitalizing on those scoring opportunities in the match
against England.”
Theron has urged the boys to go all out against Fiji to end the tournament on a high note. He added, “However we have Fiji tomorrow and I am hoping that the players make a strong statement. It's the last opportunity this group of players will play together,
so they owe it to themselves to end off with at least a convincing win on Sunday.”
The Baby Boks squad announced for the Sunday’s encounter includes:
Starting XV: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Tshotsho Mbovane, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Wandile Mjekevu, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Pieter Rademan, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Cornell du Preez, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Eben Etzebeth, 4 Jean Cook, 3 Jon Roy Jenkinson, 2 Bongi Mbonambi,
1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Nic Schonert, 18 Carl Wegner, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Paul Jordaan, 22 Courtnall Skosan.
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