{"id":54889,"date":"2024-07-17T12:59:05","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T10:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54889"},"modified":"2024-07-17T12:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T10:59:05","slug":"injury-enforced-changes-to-junior-bok-match-23-for-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=54889","title":{"rendered":"Injury-enforced changes to Junior Bok match-23 for Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 06: Junior Springbok head coach Bafana Nhleko during the South Africa U20 men’s training session at Stellenbosch Academy of Sport on February 06, 2024 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wandile Mlaba, who was called up to the Junior Springbok squad earlier this week, is set to make his SA U20 debut off the bench in Friday\u2019s final encounter of the World Rugby U20 Championship against Wales in Cape Town.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The playoff game for seventh place will kick off at 14h00 at the DHL Stadium and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mlaba (loose forward) was drafted in as a replacement following a spate of injuries in the SA U20s camp, with four players \u2013 loose forwards Tiaan Jacobs (ankle) and Thabang Mahashe (concussion), as well as outside backs Michail Damon (groin) and Likhona Finca (hand) \u2013 ruled out.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The quartet joined earlier casualties Reno Hirst, Adam de Waal and JC Mars on the injury list. As a result, Junior Bok coach Bafana Nhleko had to once more shuffle his match 23 for the encounter with Wales.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amongst the backs, Bruce Sherwood will run out at fullback due to Damon\u2019s absence, while the versatile Ezekiel Ngobeni will start at right wing in Finca\u2019s place, while he will also provide cover at scrumhalf.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At inside centre, Joshua Boulle takes over from Phillip-Albert van Niekerk, who is on the bench for this game.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacobs\u2019s No. 8 jersey goes to Sibabalwe Mahashe in a rejigged loose trio featuring Bathobele Hlekani and Keanu Coetsee as starting flankers. JF van Heerden, who started in the No 7-jersey against Argentina, returns to his more familiar position of lock, where he will partner with Jaco Grobbelaar.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amongst the replacements, uncapped Mlaba will cover the loose forward positions, while flyhalf Liam Koen returns to the match-day squad having missed the Argentina match through injury.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nhleko said the SA U20s are determined to deliver a performance that will show they are much better than their recent results.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to live with the pain of a disappointing campaign and the frustration of small margins, it was not through a lack of effort or preparation, and we are not looking for excuses, but we have a responsibility to ourselves and the people who have supported us to finish well,\u201d said Nhleko.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one more match to have a go and try to live up to the standards we have set for ourselves. We\u2019ve gone through our post-match processes and started with the Wales preparation. The nature of the competition is that we\u2019ve had to put the disappointments behind us and focus on the next job.<\/p>\n

Nhleko said they expected a stern challenge from the Welsh: \u201cWales will be equally motivated to end the tournament on a positive note, so we must be ready and focussed to meet their challenge. We hope to deliver a performance that reflects the group\u2019s abilities and win back some pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Junior Springbok team to face Wales in Cape Town:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Bruce Sherwood<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Joel Leotlela<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Jurenzo Julius<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Joshua Boulle<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Ezekiel Ngobeni<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Tylor Sefoor<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Asad Moos<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Sibabalwe Mahashe<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Bathobele Hlekani<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Keanu Coetsee<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. JF van Heerden<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Jaco Grobbelaar<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. Zachary Porthen (captain)<\/span><\/li>\n
  14. Luca Bakkes<\/span><\/li>\n
  15. Casper Badenhorst<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Replacements:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Ethan Bester<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Liyema Ntshanga<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Herman Lubbe<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Wandile Mlaba<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Divan Fuller<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Liam Koen<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. Phillip-Albert van Niekerk<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Litelihle Bester<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Issued by SA Rugby Communications<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Wandile Mlaba, who was called up to the Junior Springbok squad earlier this week, is set to make his SA U20 debut off the bench in Friday\u2019s final encounter of the World Rugby U20 Championship against Wales in Cape Town.\u00a0 The playoff game for seventh place will kick off at 14h00 at the DHL Stadium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}