Cape Town — The flight-footed Damian Markus will earn a first Junior Springboks start against England on Friday (kick-off 4:30 pm) in the third-place play-off of the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Markus has been a brilliant super-sub for the South Africans but will get the chance to show his skills from the kickoff with Bafana Nhleko, SA U20 coach, forced to make a few changes due to injuries.
Fullback Hakeem Kunene (shoulder), lock JF van Heerden (shoulder) and flanker Ghudian van Reenen (concussion) will miss the match as Nhleko elected to replace them with fullback Regan Izaks, Hennie Sieberhagen (flank, on debut), and lock Tiaan Wessels.
Props Mawande Mdanda and Phatu Ganyane, scrumhalf Neil le Roux, and winger Quewin Nortjie will also see some starting action on Friday.
“We said at the start of the tournament that we wanted to give everyone a taste of Test match rugby,” Nhleko said at his team announcement.
“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.
“We still have a lot to play for. We looked at the way England play and planned accordingly; we believe we have named a squad that will suit us in what we want to achieve.”
The Baby Boks will have to front up physically if they want to end the tournament in third place.
They’ve been struggling against the big European forwards, and it all started in the opening match against Georgie. The forward play hasn’t been the strongest and the English are known for their physical pack.
If the Junior Springboks manage to hold their own against the English forwards, it can provide the perfect platform for their backs to ignite.
Apart from a few individual runs in the different matches, the backline hasn’t really come good in the tournament.
They were severely impacted by wet and muddy fields in the first few matches, but getting possession on the backfoot due to a retreating pack of forwards hasn’t helped them in other matches, especially in the semi-final against Ireland.
According to Nhleko, this will be another opportunity for some of the players who will be running out in their final match for the Junior Springboks.
“With the short turnaround, we had to put the Ireland result behind us. We have another opportunity to represent the country and the reality is for some of these guys, it will most likely be their last time, so we must make sure we give a good account of ourselves.
“This will be the last opportunity for this group to show their value and skill.”
Junior Springboks
15. Regan Izaks, 14. Jurenzo Julius, 13. Katlego Letebele, 12. Damian Markus, 11. Quewin Nortje, 10. Jean Smith, 9. Neil le Roux, 8. Corné Beets, 7. Hennie Sieberhagen (debut), 6. Paul de Villiers (captain), 5. Tiaan Wessels, 4. Coetzee le Roux, 3. Mawande Mdanda, 2. Juann Else, 1. Phatu Ganyane.
Replacements:
16. SJ Kotze, 17. Corné Lavagna, 18. Zachary Porthen, 19. Abulele Ndabambi, 20. Gcinokuhle Mdletshe, 21. Imad Khan, 22. Litelihle Bester, 23. Michael Annies.
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