William Small-Smith scoring in the dramatic quarter final against England at the Cape Town Stadium during the 2012 JWC. Photo by Anton Geyser /Rugby15.

South Africa Under-20 head coach Dawie Theron on Monday named 34 players for the latest training camp in preparation for the IRB Junior World Championships to be played in France in June. The Junior Springboks will defend the title won in South Africa last year.

The camp, to be held in Stellenbosch between 14 and 27 January, will include trials and friendly matches against the Universities of the Western Cape (UWC), Stellenbosch (Maties) and Cape Town (Ikeys).

“This is a very important camp for us,” Theron said.

“We need to settle on a squad and this will be another opportunity for us to do so. There are a lot of boxes that we will have to tick in the two weeks of the camp to make sure we are on track.

“The trials should confirm our selections and the training matches will give us a better idea of the various combinations available to us. We will also have to settle on our game plan once we have a clear understanding of our playing personnel.”

The SA Under-20s will meet UWC on 18 January, Maties on 23 January and UCT on 26 January. The friendlies will be played in Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

The SA Under-20 training squad is:

Fullbacks: Cheslin Kolbe, Tim Swiel (DHL Western Province)

Wings: Seabelo Senatla (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Luther Obi, Sylvian Mahuza (Leopards)

Centres: Jan Serfontein, Dries Swanepoel (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Justin Gedult, JP Lewis (DHL Western Province), Tyler Fisher (KZN)

Flyhalves: Handrè Pollard (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Robert du Preez (KZN)

Scrumhalves: Kirshwin Williams (MTN Golden Lions), Hanco Venter, Stefan Ungerer (KZN)

Loose Forwards: Leneve Dames, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp (all Vodacom Blue Bulls), Albertus Smit (MTN Golden Lions), Jurie van Vuuren (DHL Western Province)

Locks: Dennis Visser, Irnè Herbst, Jacques du Plessis, Marvin Orie (all Vodacom Blue Bulls)

Props: Justin Forwood, Andrew Beerwinkel, Neethling Fouchè (all Vodacom Blue Bulls), Luan de Bruin (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Marnè Coetzee (KZN), Sti Sithole (DHL Western Province)

Hookers: Jacques du Toit (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Devon Martinus (MTN Golden Lions), Mornè du Plessis (KZN), Freddie Kirsten (DHL Western Province)

5 Responses to Junior Springbok training squad named

1. Koos Hugo says:

   2013/01/07 at 6:35 pm

   Hi Oom. Ek dink die antwoord is dat daar O/23 spanne moet wees wat glad nie in die Super Rugby mag speel nie. Iets soos n O/23 super rugby reeks. Ek glo dat daar so ook minder beserings aan die jong spelers sal wees. Dit sal hulle n geleentheid gee om te ontwikkel en te "mature" sonder om verlore te gaan.

   Om terug te kom na die antwoord? Dis politiek. Ek was betrokke by die O/13 leeus Craven week span en dit was nie altyd die beste kinders wat die span gehaal het nie.

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2. Cindy Greeff says:

   2013/01/07 at 6:02 pm

   Waar die die hacker van die bulle beste in currie beker reeks en dulls scrum my en no7 stander van lions

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3. Francois Beauzec says:

   2013/01/07 at 6:13 pm

   Waar die kleiner pproovinsies se spelers het O P en self kleiner unies dan geen talent nie of word hulle nie eers oorweeg nie ! Groot Legend spelers hope van hulle kom reeds uit sulke klein unies uit !

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4. Charlotte Schoeman says:

   2013/01/07 at 5:47 pm

   Well done to all these young and up coming stars!!! Sorry to those who didn’t make it!! It’s worthy to note who the coaches were during the development phase of most of these players on school level. Why aren’t these coaches employed together with Dawie Theron?

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5. Tienie Halgryn says:

   2013/01/07 at 3:38 pm

   Hoeveel van hierdie spelers het groot geword in die provinsie wat hulle nou verteenwoordig. Oot 2 jaar is baie van hierdie name vergete want hulle gaan nie kans kry om hulle nuwe provinsie te verteenwoordig nie. Daar is 'n oorvloed van spelers in sekere provinsies. Watter wedstryde buiten die 0/20 het Jan Serfontein hierdie jaar gespeel. Soveel talent maar die provinsie het te veel goeie senters. Is dit die rede hoekom so baie SA Skole Cravenweek spelers verdwyn? 11% van hierdie spelers sedert 1974 het later vir SA gespeel. Net 5 SA Skole kapteins het Springbok gehaal en net Corne Krige as SA Skole kaptein het die senior span aangevoer. Die Rede? Antwoord julle dit Sportgroete.

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