Junior Springboks include five uncapped players in XV to play Italy

Bafana Nhleko has opted to explore the depth of his Junior Springboks squad on Thursday when they take on Italy in their second match at the Junior World Championship in South Africa.

The U20s hosts eventually secured a 10-point win over Georgia in their opener last Saturday in Stellenbosch and selection has now been shaken up for their next Pool C encounter, a clash with the age-grade Azzurri who were hammered in their opener by Argentina following a first-half red card.

A statement read: “Junior Springboks head coach Bafana Nhleko has named five uncapped players in his starting team to face Italy.

“Backs Regan Izaks (full-back), Quewin Nortje (wing) and Sam Francis (fly-half) will don the South African U20s colours for the first time, alongside Corne Beets (No8) and Tiaan Wessels (lock) as Nhleko stuck to his pre-tournament intentions to give everyone in the squad a run as early as possible. Litelihle Bester (utility back) will make his debut off the bench.

“Paul de Villiers will again lead the side as one of five starters against Georgia in the opening game last weekend. Vice-captain Katlego Letebele is getting a second start, as is JF van Heerden, Mawande Mdanda and Juann Else. Michael Annies, Damian Markus, Neil le Roux, Jannes Potgieter and Corne Lavagna all played off the bench last week but will start the game this time around.”

Nhleko said: “It was always part of the planning to give as many players as possible a run in the first two games. We told the group that we need to rotate as the tournament goes along.

“It is also important to show trust in every player in our squad and give them a run early on. This will help us have fresh bodies throughout the tournament, as the turnaround between matches will be taxing on the bodies.

“We needed some consistency in the spine and those guys will provide that,” he continued, explaining why he kept five of the starters against the Georgians in their game two XV. “The five starting this week after coming off the bench against Georgia get some reward for the impact they had on the game once they got on the field, but again, rotation was always part of the plan.

“I told the players that we will need 30 and even one or two more players to get the result we want, so we are going to call on everyone to contribute during the tournament. An important thing is also to grow this group and the only way that is going to be possible is to get them game time.

“It was so great to feel the support from the crowd in our first match. From leaving the hotel till we got onto our change rooms, the team was cheered on, that is not something they were used to. It is a massive privilege to play at home and we want to make the best of that.”

Junior Springboks (vs Italy U20s – Thursday, 4pm SAST)
15. Regan Izaks (uncapped)
14. Michael Annies – 1 cap, 0 points
13. Katlego Letebele (vice-captain) – 3 caps, 5 points (1 try)
12. Damian Markus – 1 cap, 0 points
11. Quewin Nortje (uncapped)
10. Sam Francis (uncapped)
9. Neil Le Roux (4 caps, 0 points)
1. Corne Lavagna – 3 caps, 0 points
2. Juann Else – 4 caps, 0 points
3. Mawande Mdanda – 1 cap, 0 points
4. Tiaan Wessels (uncapped)
5. JF Van Heerden – 1 cap, 0 points
6. Paul de Villiers (captain) – 5 caps, 0 points
7. Jannes Potgieter – 1 cap, 0 points
8. Corne Beets (uncapped)

Replacements:
16. SJ Kotze – 1 cap, 0 points
17. Phatu Ganyane – 1 cap, 0 points
18. Zachary Porthen – 1 cap, 0 points
19. Ghudian van Reenen – 1 cap, 0 points
20. Gcinokuhle Mdletshe – 5 caps, 0 points
21. Imad Khan – 5 caps, 5 points (1 try)
22. Litelihle Bester (uncapped)
23. Jurenzo Julius – 1 cap, 5 points (1 try)