{"id":65670,"date":"2025-02-26T14:49:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T12:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=65670"},"modified":"2025-02-26T14:49:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T12:49:04","slug":"junior-boks-rotate-squad-for-final-georgian-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=65670","title":{"rendered":"Junior Boks rotate squad for final Georgian clash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Gilermo Mentoe, of South Africa, scores a try during the international test match between Georgia U20 and South Africa U20 at Avchala Rugby Stadium on 23 February 2025 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: Levan Verdzeuli\/Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Junior Springbok<\/strong> coach Kevin Foote<\/strong> has made a raft of rotational changes for the SA u20<\/strong> side’s second clash with Georgia u20<\/strong> on Friday in Tbilisi<\/strong>. Riley Norton<\/strong> will lead the South African team in their final tour fixture, which kicks off at 15:00 (SA time).<\/p>\n

When the sides met on Sunday, the Junior Boks showed character and determination to stage a successful comeback and record a 38-29 victory in severely cold conditions.<\/p>\n

Norton’s inclusion is one of six changes to the pack, and he forms a new lock combination with Morn\u00e9 Venter<\/strong>, with Heinrich Theron<\/strong> moving to the bench. The 19-year-old Norton, a product of Paul Roos Gymnasium<\/strong> in Stellenbosch, made both the SA Schools rugby and cricket teams while at school.<\/p>\n

Foote has rotated the front row, which will now feature Simphiwe Ngobese<\/strong>, Siphosethu Mnebelele<\/strong>, and Jean Erasmus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Only flank Divan Fuller<\/strong> gets a second start among the loose forwards. He’ll be joined in the loose trio by fellow flank, Thando Biyela<\/strong>, and eighthman, Fano Linde<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The versatile Dominic Malgas<\/strong> moves from outside centre to flyhalf in one of three tweaks to the backline. He’ll form a new-look halfback combination with Haashim Pead<\/strong>. Scott Nel<\/strong> takes over at outside centre and will partner the strong running Pieter van der Merwe<\/strong> in midfield.<\/p>\n

“Last week was a great team effort in difficult conditions against a determined home team, who used the conditions and made us work hard to adapt, which we did successfully in the end,” Foote reflected on the first meeting of the teams.<\/p>\n

“We are expecting another physical battle against Georgia. However, we are looking forward to building on our performance and trying out some more combinations, which is the reason for our rotational changes.”<\/p>\n

The SA u20 coach said he is pleased with how the players have embraced the challenge to adapt to the unfamiliar local conditions, which have seen them train and play in almost sub-zero temperatures after preparing in summer conditions back home in Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n

“This match is another great opportunity for us to continue to grow together as a squad, to implement our game plan, and to gauge our progress,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Our preparations have been going very well and it is pleasing to see the growth of the group. Everyone knows the importance of a good performance and what it means for our country, so we are grateful for the opportunity to again represent South Africa and are looking forward to Friday’s challenge.”<\/p>\n

Junior Springbok team to face Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n

15 Gilermo Mentoe,\u00a014 Cheswill Jooste,\u00a013 Scott Nel,\u00a012 Pieter van der Merwe,\u00a011 Chijindu Okonta,\u00a010 Dominic Malgas,\u00a09 Haashim Pead,\u00a08 Fano Linde,\u00a07 Thando Biyela,\u00a06 Divan Fuller,\u00a05 Morn\u00e9 Venter,\u00a04 Riley Norton (captain),\u00a03 Jean Erasmus,\u00a02 Siphosethu Mnebelele,\u00a01 Simphiwe Ngobese.\u00a0Replacements: <\/strong>16 Ranon Fouch\u00e9,\u00a017 HB Odendaal,\u00a018 Tebogo Nkosi,\u00a019 Heinrich Theron,\u00a020 Xola Nyali,\u00a021 Yabo Ndzamela,\u00a022 Ceano Everson,\u00a023 JT Kapank.<\/p>\n

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

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has made a raft of rotational changes for the SA u20 side’s second clash with Georgia u20 on Friday in Tbilisi. Riley Norton will lead the South African team in their final tour fixture, which kicks off at 15:00 (SA time). When the sides met on Sunday, the Junior Boks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65670","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\/65670","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=65670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}