Dawie Theron, the new SA Under-20 coach, on Thursday said he was looking forward to work with SARU in an attempt to further develop South Africa’s rugby talent.

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The former Springbok prop, who represented South Africa in 13 tests, was on Wednesday appointed to the role for a term of three years. He believes that one of his responsibilities will be to nature local talent that could one day represent their country at international level.

“I enjoyed nine wonderful years in Kimberley with Griquas, but this opportunity is something that was impossible to decline,” Theron said.

“As a coach, one always has aspirations and dreams, and I believe this is the next stepping stone in my coaching career. I have previously assisted in coaching roles at various schools and Under-21 teams in the Kimberley area, so coaching a younger group of players is something I am really looking forward to.

“One of my tasks will be to ensure that we see our talented young rugby players develop into international players. If we look at a country and a team like Australia, they have many young players competing at Test level.

“I am confident that this could be achieved in South Africa. If you are good enough, you are old enough. Let’s take a player like Patrick Lambie for example. He played at the 2010 IRB Junior World Championships in Argentina, and he has already achieved three Springbok Test caps.

Theron brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with him to the job which he acquired in roles held before as a head coach, assistant-coach, consultant and tour manager with the Griquas and Cheetahs franchises respectively.

Theron reiterated that he would take guidance from the existing rugby structures at SARU.

“I am in constant discussions with SARU with regards to my roles and responsibilities, but one of my intentions will be to try and establish a world class junior coaching system,” said the 44-year-old coach.

“In conjunction with the national selectors, our job will also be to select the best SA U20 team that will participate in the IRB Junior World Championships. I will also be working closely with the existing structures and assist the various junior programmes currently at SARU.

“We are very fortunate in South Africa that we have many rugby tournaments and competitions where our youngsters are competing in. I was very impressed with the standard of rugby in the Currie Cup U19 and U21 Championships, our Varsity Cup and Club Champs have also been good. Then we have many age-group players who have international experience after competing in SARU’s High Performance programmes.”