The Junior Springboks have reinforced their front row with a Bulls call-up ahead of Sunday's U20 Rugby Championship clash against Australia. The move is injury cover, though details of the affected player and his replacement have not been confirmed.
The Junior Springboks have made a front-row addition to their squad, calling up a Bulls player as injury cover ahead of Sunday's U20 Rugby Championship match against Australia.
No further detail on the specific player called up or the nature of the injury he is covering was available at time of publication.
The Junior Springboks will host Georgia, Fiji, and Chile in a three-match-day U20 International Series at City Park in Cape Town from 21 to 31 May. Coach Kevin Foote will use the series to give his full wider squad game time and sharpen combinations before the Junior World Championship defence in Georgia at the end of June. South Africa and Georgia are in the same JWC pool, lending added significance to the 31 May fixture.
The Junior Springboks open their U20 Rugby Championship campaign against Argentina at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Monday (4.10pm), with coach Kevin Foote prioritising fitness and ball-in-play tempo after lessons learnt from last year's tournament on the same ground. New Zealand face Australia in the day's first match at 2pm, with all three rounds of the four-nation competition again hosted in Gqeberha.
Junior Springbok captain Riley Norton insists Saturday's U20 Rugby Championship finale against New Zealand is no dead rubber, with breakdown improvement the key focus as the log-leading Baby Boks chase a clean sweep at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Junior Springbok captain Riley Norton has called for a focused performance against New Zealand in Saturday's U20 Rugby Championship finale in Gqeberha, with the title already secured but the skipper wary of a backlash from a Baby Blacks side knocked out of title contention by Argentina.
The Junior Boks need only a point from Saturday's U20 Championship decider against New Zealand to claim a first-ever title, and Foote has named an almost identical squad to the one that beat Australia — full teams and a Rugby365 prediction included.