Junior Springbok coach Dawie Theron made 2 changes to his match-23 for the World Rugby Under 20 Championship semi-final against defending champions England on Monday evening in Calvisano, Italy.
DHL Western Province flank Rikus Bothma takes over the No 6 jersey from his provincial team mate Jacques Vermeulen, while Malcolm Jaer (EP Kings) replaces Grant Hermanus (DHL WP) on the bench.
The rest of the match squad who defeated Australia in Calvisano last Wednesday, were kept unchanged.
Theron said the changes are part of the team’s rotational policy.
“We know this tournament is a marathon and not a sprinting race and we therefore have to be sensible with our player management process. All the players are fit and in good shape and now they must go out and do the business.
“We are not looking at England’s previous result (they lost to France in their final pool match). They are in the semi-finals and will be looking to play in a 3rd successive final. We know they will be highly motivated and will definitely have a good plan against us,” said Theron.
Theron and his conditioning staff have managed the activities of the Junior Bok squad very carefully during the past few days in an effort to keep them fresh.
“Although we have seen some rain here the past few days, the weather is still hot and humid and we therefore tried to give the players as must rest as possible.
“They are refreshed again and I am very pleased with their attitude and readiness. Earlier on Sunday we took them for an outing to Maranello, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and will finish off our preparations with the captains run in the early evening,” added to Theron.
The match starts at 20:30 SA Time (20:30 Italy Time) and will be televised live on SuperSport in South Africa. New Zealand and France clash in the other semi-final at 18:30 SA Time (18:30 Italy Time) at the same venue.
Junior Springboks: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (Captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Rikus Bothma, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Retshegofaditswe ‘Ox’ Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Malcolm Jaer.
Date: Monday 15 June
Venue: Stadio San Michele, Calvisano
Kick-Off: 20:30 SA Time (20:30 Italy Time, 19:30 BST, 18:30 GMT)
Referee: TBC
Other Matches:
- Argentina vs Italy – Viadana 16:30 SA Time (16:30 Italy Time, 14:30 GMT)
- Australia vs Scotland – Calvisano 16:30 SA Time (16:30 Italy Time, 14:30 GMT)
- New Zealand vs France – Calvisano 18:30 SA Time (18:30 Italy Time, 16:30 GMT)
- Samoa vs Japan – Viadana 18:30 SA Time (18:30 Italy Time, 16:30 GMT)
- Ireland vs Wales – Viadana 20:30 SA Time (20:30 Italy Time, 18:30 GMT)