“We want to play well for our country and play well for Siya in particular, for appearing in his 100th Test for the Springboks; and we want to honour him with our performance,” Kevin Foote, u19 head coach said.
South Africa’s Under-19 Academy will field five players from their World Rugby U20 Championship-winning Junior Boks squad when they face France U19 in Châteauroux on Saturday. Lock Riley Norton leads the side as captain.
The match, which kicks off at 15h30 South African time, serves as the opening fixture of the team’s European tour. It has been billed as a curtain-raiser to the Test between France and the Springboks later that evening in Paris.
Norton will be joined by four other capped Junior Boks in the starting XV: prop Oliver Reid, hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele, and flyhalf Vusi Moyo, whilst prop Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka has been named amongst the replacements.
The South African youngsters have already experienced French rugby firsthand. The team participated in combined training sessions with their hosts at the French High-Performance Centre in Marcoussis on Monday.
Foote explained the selection process for the 26-man match-day squad, highlighting three key criteria used by the coaching staff.
“It’s always challenging with such a talented group. There were three things we considered when selecting the group,” he said. “The first thing was that we tracked the guys the whole year, in the FNB Varsity Cup and the SA Rugby U21 and U19 provincial competitions.
“We’ve also seen how they have committed to our programme and how they have settled down and fitted into how we want to play, and what our culture is. And then, of course, we took into consideration their performances in our ‘friendly match’ against France on Monday.”
Despite having only a week to prepare in Stellenbosch before departing for Paris, Foote believes team cohesion is developing well.
“We have a lot of data on the players. Combinations are important, plus we are building on those combinations all the time,” he noted. “We are looking forward to Saturday’s occasion, which will see a clash between two teams who are very proud to represent their country.”
Local organisers have confirmed that more than 7,000 tickets have already been sold for the fixture in Châteauroux. Following Saturday’s encounter, the SA U19s will travel to Cork for their second international against Ireland next week.
SA U19 Academy team to face France U19:
Starting XV: 15 Akahluwa Boqwana (Vodacom Bulls), 14 Lindsey Jansen (Vodacom Bulls), 13 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 12 Pieter van der Merwe (vice-captain, Vodacom Bulls), 11 Dylan Miller (DHL Western Province), 10 Vusi Moyo (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 9 Elgernon Meyer (Fidelity ADT Lions), 8 Reuben Kruger (DHL Western Province), 7 Aiden de Costa (DHL Western Province), 6 Kebotile Maake (Vodacom Bulls), 5 Riley Norton (captain, DHL Western Province), 4 Heinrich Theron (Vodacom Bulls), 3 Danie Kruger (DHL Western Province), 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele (Vodacom Bulls), 1 Oliver Reid (DHL Western Province).
Replacements: 16 Liam van Wyk (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 18 Ulrich van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 19 JD Hattingh (Fidelity ADT Lions), 20 Tom Barnard (DHL Western Province), 21 Vuyo Gwiji (Fidelity ADT Lions), 22 Luan Giliomee (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 23 Janco Purchase (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 24 Risima Khosa (Fidelity ADT Lions), 25 Brooklyn Newman (Vodacom Bulls), 26 Unathi Mlotshwa (Vodacom Bulls).
