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South Africa U20 and England U20 make sweeping changes for third place play-off
South Africa U20 and England U20 will bring their World Rugby U20 Championships to a close this Friday with wholesale changes to their starting XVs in their third place play-off at Athlone Stadium.
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Following their 31-12 loss to Ireland U20 in the semi-finals, Junior Boks head coach Bafana Nhleko has made eight changes to his starting XV – some forced through injury, some not – with centre Damian Markus set to make his first start of the tournament.
Likewise, England U20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has made changes across the board, bringing in seven new players to his starting XV to the one that lost to France U20 52-31. There has also been a positional tinkering in the back-row, with Harlequins’ Chandler Cunningham-South shifting from No.8 to blindside flanker, forcing Nathan Michelow to move to openside flanker.
Nhleko said: “We said at the start of the tournament that we wanted to give everyone a taste of Test match rugby.
“We did that, but the injuries and the result against Ireland have now given us another opportunity to expand on that, which means we will have some fresh bodies in the squad to face England.”
Mapletoft said: “This is the last opportunity for this group to take to the field together, and I know they can’t wait to give it their all.
“This has been a fantastic learning opportunity for this talented bunch of players, and I’m sure the experience will put them in good stead for the future.
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“Going up against the hosts on Friday will be a challenge, but I have confidence in the players to put in a performance that they can be proud of.”
South Africa U20:
15. Regan Izaks – 3 caps, 0 points
14. Jurenzo Julius – 4 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
13. Katlego Letebele (vice-captain) – 6 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
12. Damian Markus – 4 caps, 5 points (1 try)
11. Quewin Nortje – 1 cap, 0 points
10. Jean Smith – 3 caps, 29 points (7 conversions, 5 penalty goals)
9. Neil le Roux – 5 caps, 0 points
8. Corné Beets – 3 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
7. Hennie Sieberhagen – uncapped
6. Paul de Villiers (captain) – 8 caps, 0 points
5. Tiaan Wessels – 1 cap, 0 points
4. Coetzee le Roux – 3 caps, 5 points (1 try)
3. Mawande Mdanda – 2 caps, 0 points
2. Juann Else – 5 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
1. Phatu Ganyane – 4 caps, 0 points
Replacements:
16. SJ Kotze – 4 caps, 0 points
17. Corné Lavagna – 6 caps, 0 points
18. Zachary Porthen – 4 caps, 0 points
19. Abulele Ndabambi – 3 caps, 0 points
20. Gcinokuhle Mdletshe – 6 caps, 0 points
21. Imad Khan – 7 caps, 16 points (2 tries, 3 conversions)
22. Litelihle Bester – 1 cap, 0 points
23. Michael Annies – 4 caps, 0 points
England U20:
15 Sam Harris (Bath Rugby)
14 Cassius Cleaves (Harlequins)
13 Joe Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White??(Sale Sharks)
11 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks)
10 Connor Slevin (Harlequins)
9 Nye Thomas?(Sale Sharks)
1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour?(Sale Sharks)
2 Craig Wright?(Northampton Saints)
3 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Joe Bailey?(Exeter) *
5 Lewis Chessum (C) (Leicester Tigers)
6 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
7 Nathan Michelow (Saracens)
8 Zach Carr?(Harlequins)
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Replacements:
16 Nathan Jibulu?(Harlequins)
17 Ethan Clarke?(Harlequins)
18 James Halliwell (Bristol Bears)
19 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers)
20 Tristan Woodman (Sale Sharks)
21 Charlie Bracken (Saracens)
22 Louie Johnson (Newcastle)
23 Joseph Woodward?(Leicester Tigers)
Comments on RugbyPass
End to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
7 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to comments