New call-up Wandile Mlaba will make his debut off the bench as the Junior Springboks have made a plethora of injury-enforced changes for the seventh-place playoff against Wales in Cape Town on Friday.
The playoff game for seventh place will kick off at 2pm at the DHL Stadium.
Mlaba (loose forward) was drafted in as a replacement following a spate of injuries in the SA U20s camp, with four players – loose forwards Tiaan Jacobs (ankle) and Thabang Mahashe (concussion), as well as outside backs Michail Damon (groin) and Likhona Finca (hand) – ruled out.
The quartet join earlier casualties Reno Hirst, Adam de Waal and JC Mars on the injury list. As a result, Junior Bok coach Bafana Nhleko had to once more shuffle his matchday-23 for the encounter with Wales.
Amongst the backs, Bruce Sherwood will run out at fullback due to Damon’s absence, while the versatile Ezekiel Ngobeni will start at right wing in Finca’s place, while he will also provide cover at scrumhalf.
At inside centre, Joshua Boulle takes over from Phillip-Albert van Niekerk, who is on the bench for this game.
Jacobs’s No 8 jersey goes to Sibabalwe Mahashe in a rejigged loose trio featuring Bathobele Hlekani and Keanu Coetsee as starting flankers. JF van Heerden, who started in the No 7-jersey against Argentina, returns to his more familiar position of lock, where he will partner with Jaco Grobbelaar.
Amongst the replacements, uncapped Mlaba will cover the loose forward positions, while flyhalf Liam Koen returns to the matchday squad having missed the Argentina match through injury.
Nhleko said the SA U20s are determined to deliver a performance that will show they are much better than their recent results.
“We have to live with the pain of a disappointing campaign and the frustration of small margins, it was not through a lack of effort or preparation, and we are not looking for excuses, but we have a responsibility to ourselves and the people who have supported us to finish well” said Nhleko.
“We have one more match to have a go and try to live up to the standards we have set for ourselves. We’ve gone through our post-match processes and started with the Wales preparation. The nature of the competition is that we’ve had to put the disappointments behind us and focus on the next job.
Nhleko said they expected a stern challenge from the Welsh.
“Wales will be equally motivated to end the tournament on a positive note, so we must be ready and focused to meet their challenge. We hope to deliver a performance that reflects the group’s abilities and win back some pride.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
