The 2024 U20 World Championship kicks off in Cape Town this week, and here’s a look back at some of the top guns in Junior Springbok history.

The Junior Boks open the tournament against Fiji at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night, as the U20 Championship returns to South Africa for the second consecutive year.

The boys in green and gold will be looking to improve on their third-place finish in last year’s tournament and push for their first title since 2012, when the tournament was also held in the Western Cape.

Future Springboks and World Cup winners Pieter-Steph du Toit, Steven Kitshoff and Handre Pollard were involved in that tournament, as South Africa beat New Zealand in a thrilling final.

In 2014, a Junior Bok team featuring Pollard, Sergeal Petersen and Andre Esterhuizen beat the Junior All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland in the bronze playoff.

2017 was a bright year for the Junior Springboks, with the likes of Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok, Curwin Bosch, Gianni Lombard, Embrose Papier, Juarno Augustus and Johan Grobbelaar representing the team that won bronze in Georgia.

More recently, the Junior Boks, captained by recent Bok debutant Sacaha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, won the U20 Six Nations Summer Series title in 2022, when the U20 World Championship was unable to be held.

Photo: Luke Walker/Gallo Images/Getty Images

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