The inaugural U20 Rugby Championship tournament, featuring up-and-coming U20 players from South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia, will be held in Queensland next month.
The new event will be held in early May in the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane on Australia's east coast and will consist of a round-robin format with all teams competing once. The top team at the end of the 3-round, 6-game tournament will be declared the inaugural champion.
It was confirmed in July last year that the Junior Springboks would take part in the U20 competition, which mirrors the famous Senior Rugby Championship, and is expected to be a key route to senior honors.
The latest squad, announced this week, includes five players from last year's Junior Springbok squad: Zachary Posen (prop), JF van Heerden (lock), Asad Mous (scrumhalf) and centre. Yurenzo Julius and Literile Bester.
The rest of the squad includes some of the most talented young players in South African rugby and it will be interesting to see how many end up taking senior honors.
Junior Springbok team in the U20 Rugby Championship:
forward:
Props: Casper Badenhorst (Vodacom Bulls), Liema Ntshanga (Toyota Cheetahs), Mbatha Makhubela (Vodacom Bulls), Reno Hurst (Fidelity ADT Lions), Luan Swart (Vodacom Bulls), Zachary Posen ( DHL Western Province).
prostitute: CJ Erasmus (DHL Western Province), Ethan Bester (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Juan Sumal (Vodacom Bulls).
rock: Adam de Waal (DHL Western Province), JF van Heerden (Vodacom Bulls), Thomas Dyer (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
Loose forward: Batobele Hlekhani (Hollywood Bets Sharks), Divan Fuller (DHL Western Province), Keanu Coetzee (Vodacom Bulls), Sivabalwe Mahashe (Fidelity ADT Lions), Thaban Mufafi (Fidelity ADT Lions), Tian Jacobs (Biarritz, France).
Bucks:
Scrum half: Asad Mous (DHL Western Province), Ezekiel Ngubane (DHL Western Province), Hassiem Pied (Fidelity ADT Lions).
Fly half: Sarlon Williams (Fidelity ADT Lions), Tyler Sehoor (Toyota Cheetahs).
Center: Bruce Sherwood (DHL Western Province), Joshua Boole (DHL Western Province), Jurenzo Julius (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Literile Bester (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Philippe Albert van Niekerk (Vodacom Bulls) .
Outside back: JC Mars (DHL Western Province), Joel Leotrella (DHL Western Province/SA Sevens contract), Michael Damon (Vodacom Bulls).
U20 Rugby Championship schedule (SA kick-off time):
Thursday, May 2nd
09:00: Junior Boxes vs New Zealand
11:00: Australia vs Argentina
Tuesday, May 7th
09:00: New Zealand vs Argentina
11:00: Junior Boxes vs Australia
Sunday, May 12th
05:30: Junior Boxes vs Argentina
07:30: Australia vs New Zealand