{"id":70747,"date":"2025-04-25T09:59:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=70747"},"modified":"2025-04-25T09:59:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:59:39","slug":"junior-boks-kick-off-final-preparations-in-gqeberha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=70747","title":{"rendered":"Junior Boks kick off final preparations in Gqeberha"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA – APRIL 03: Ranon Fouche (Vodacom Bulls) during the Junior Springboks training session at SARU Fields, Paul Roos Gymnasium on April 03, 2025 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. (Photo by Grant Pitcher\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Junior Springboks assembled in Gqeberha on Wednesday to begin their preparations for the Rugby Championship U20 and according to SA U20 coach Kevin Foote, they are happy to be in the Eastern Cape for the tournament, which kicks off next week at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium,<\/p>\n

This SANZAAR tournament consists of three exciting double-headers on the three match days \u2013 1, 6 and 11 May \u2013 and features the best young talent from South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Following the SA u20s\u2019 early morning arrival at their hotel, the players underwent their mandatory medical check-ups before their recovery session. After lunch they then had an afternoon field session on the outside field of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the first day of training, Foote coach expressed his satisfaction with the team’s start in the Friendly City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we arrived at the airport, having the dignitaries welcome us in such a warm and hospitable manner felt special and it\u2019s a great honour,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe marimba band playing with such great energy made it clear that people are very grateful to have rugby in the city at a national level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Junior Bok coach highlighted the importance of clarity and alignment during the initial field session: \u201cThe big goal for us today was all about clarity and ensuring that the guys take what we learnt in those training camps (in Stellenbosch) and make sure that everybody’s aligned. We’re keeping things pretty simple, and we believe that our accountability piece will be important.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Foote, the Junior Bok medical team have also played a crucial role in the preparations, ensuring that the players are fit and ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medical team have done a really good job, ensuring that the players are fit, and we\u2019ve got 31 really keen players ready to go. Selection will be a challenge for us now, which is a good thing,\u201d Foote said, emphasising the importance of maintaining clarity as they finalise preparation for the much-anticipated tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing is making sure that the players are calm in their clarity so we can start to connect and establish that process into the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets are priced at R20 per person and will be available at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium ticket office or online from Webtickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rugby Championship u20 fixtures (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, 1 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: New Zealand v Australia<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v Argentina<\/p>\n

Tuesday, 6 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: New Zealand v Argentina<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v Australia<\/p>\n

Sunday, 11 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: Argentina v Australia<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v New Zealand<\/p>\n

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

The Junior Springboks assembled in Gqeberha on Wednesday to begin their preparations for the Rugby Championship U20 and according to SA U20 coach Kevin Foote, they are happy to be in the Eastern Cape for the tournament, which kicks off next week at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, This SANZAAR tournament consists of three exciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":70749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70747","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\/70747","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=70747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}