Jeremy Ward has been unveiled as captain of the South Africa side that will look to win a second World Rugby U20 Championship crown in England next month.
The Eastern Province centre has been handed the captaincy by coach Dawie Theron and will have his provincial team-mate Junior Pokomela and last year’s South Africa Schools captain Ernst van Rhyn as his deputies for the showpiece event.
Theron, for whom this will be his sixth World Rugby U20 Championship as head coach, believes he has selected the best squad available this year, with just two names returning from last year’s campaign when South Africa finished third.
“It is always challenging to name a squad of only 28 players, especially if one considers the immense talent at junior level in South Africa, but we have selected the best possible team for the World Rugby U20 Championship,” said Theron, who coached South Africa to the title on home soil in 2012.
“JT (Jackson) and Marco (Jansen van Vuren) were members of our touring squad last year, and they will be able to guide the other players in terms of what to expect, while we are lucky to have nine players in the squad who have played against some of the northern hemisphere teams in the Under-18 International Series.
“Unfortunately injuries ruled a few players out of contention, and I feel for them. But nevertheless I am pleased with the squad we have selected and I believe they have potential to challenge the best teams in the showpiece.
“This team offers something different to the sides we have selected in the past, and we are excited by the prospects these players offer.”
The Junior Springboks will open their campaign against Japan at the Manchester City Academy Stadium on 7 June before tackling Argentina and France in Pool C.
Before then they will face matches against the Golden Lions under-19 and under-21 teams in Johannesburg, Maties in Stellenbosch and the SWD Eagles in Outdtshoorn as Theron fine-tunes the squad ahead of their departure for Manchester.
South Africa squad: Tango Balekile, Kwenzo Blose, Curwin Bosch, Jan-Henning Campher, Zain Davids, Ruben de Villiers, Stedman Gans, James Hall, Denzel Hill, Jaco Holtzhausen, JT Jackson, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Manie Libbok, Mosolwa Mafuma, Franco Naude, S’busiso Nkosi, Nicolaas Oosthuizen, Embrose Papier, Junior Pokomela, Carlü Sadie, Eli Snyman, Franco van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe, Ernst van Rhyn, Keanu Vers, Jeremy Ward (captain), Cobus Wiese, Eduard Zandberg.
RISING STARS IN ARGENTINA SQUAD
Argentina coach Nicolás Fernández Lobbe has unveiled his 28-man squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship 2016 in Manchester in June.
Nine players will return from the 2015 edition where Los Pumitas finished ninth overall, while there are also six members of the sevens side that won the silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014.
Among those Nanjing 2014 medallists is Bautista Delguy (pictured), the just-turned 19 year old who made his HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debut in Vancouver last month and has also played for Argentina XV in the Americas Rugby Championship this year.
Eight others played a role in the Americas Rugby Championship winning campaign and Fernández Lobbe, whose coaching team includes his brother Ignacio and Gastón Conde, will hope that experience can help Los Pumitas in England.
Argentina will face France, 2012 champions South Africa and Japan in Pool C at the U20 Championship, which runs from 7-25 June, with all their round robin matches taking place at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Argentina squad: Gaspar Baldunciel, Patricio Baronio Gauna, Jose Barros Sosa, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Vincente Boronat, Ignacio Calas, Teo Castiglione, Gonzale del Pazo, Bautista Delguy, Julian Dominguez, Martin Elias, Juan Pablo Enriquez, Marcos Kremer, Tomas Malanos, Juan Cruz Mallia, Santiago Mare, Santiago Medrano, Nahuel Milan, Domingo Miotti, Franco Molina, Matias Osadczuk, Benito Paolucci, Roman Pretz, Santiago Pulella, Ruben Ricco, Mariano Romanini, Conrado Roura, Bautista Stavile Bravin.
