{"id":77100,"date":"2025-07-07T13:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77100"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:56:15","slug":"biyela-to-lead-junior-boks-against-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77100","title":{"rendered":"Biyela to lead Junior Boks against Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Action from the World Rugby U20 Championship 2025 Pool A match between England and South Africa at Stadio Mario Battaglini in Rovigo, Italy on 4 July. Photo credit: Maurilio Boldrini\u00a0\/\u00a0World\u00a0Rugby.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Loose forward Thando Biyela will lead the Junior Springboks in their third and final Pool A match at the World Rugby U20 Championship against Scotland, which kicks off at 15h30 on Wednesday at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the SA U20 side show several rotational changes from the team that beat England in their previous group match in Rovigo, the match-23 to face Scotland is a strong combination filled with experience.<\/p>\n

Fullback Gilermo Mentoe, right wing Cheswill Jooste, outside centre Gino Cupido, and flyhalf Vusi Moyo are retained from the starting fifteen that defeated England on Friday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upfront, Matt Romao (loose forward),\u00a0Jaco Grobbelaar (lock), Jean Erasmus and Oliver Read (both props), and\u00a0<\/span>Jaundre Schoeman (hooker) all provided impact off the bench against Australia and England, and are now in the starting pack.<\/p>\n

According to Kevin Foote, the Junior Springbok head coach, they\u2019ve named a team that will play this important pool game with real purpose and pride against a very good Scotland side. A win will solidify the Junior Boks\u2019 top spot in Pool A.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fortunate that the players in our match-23 have experience playing for the Junior Boks against Georgia, in the U20 Rugby Championship, and also in our warm-up matches against Kenya,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a tremendous honour for any player to represent the Junior Boks and the starting fifteen for Wednesday have earned that right because everyone has worked extremely hard to be in consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThando has captained us already earlier this year, Stephanus Linde played for us against Georgia, while Matt Romao was our Man of the Match against Argentina in the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cJaco Williams, Jaco Grobbelaar, and Oliver Reid have all seen a lot of action in the two previous group matches, while we have more experience that will come off the bench in Herman Lubbe, JJ Theron, Batho Hlekani, and Haashim Pead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Junior Bok coach described the team to face Scotland as an experienced selection with exciting combinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have players whom we believe have a lot of experience, they know our game very well, and they have a lot of hunger to do well against what will be a highly motivated Scotland on Wednesday,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

Foote said they have done their homework on Scotland, know what to expect from them, and have a very healthy respect for the Scottish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a strong desire to improve and we are determined to keep building on our game model, and to make sure we maintain our synergy and cohesion as a team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone understands the threat that Scotland brings, and we feel they have played some good rugby. They attack well and their set piece has been solid; so, they will pose a very big threat for us, and we will not underestimate them. We are looking forward to meeting an exciting challenge on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Springbok team to face Scotland in Calvisano:<\/b><\/p>\n

15. Gilermo Mentoe
\n14. Cheswill Jooste
\n13. Gino Cupido
\n12. Dominic Malgas
\n11. Jaco Williams
\n10. Vusi Moyo
\n9. Ceano Everson
\n8. Stephanus Linde
\n7. Matt Romao
\n6. Thando Biyela (captain)
\n5. Morne Venter
\n<\/span>4. Jaco Grobbelaar
\n<\/span>3. Jean Erasmus
\n<\/span>2. Jaundre Schoeman
\n1. Oliver Reid<\/p>\n

Replacements<\/b><\/p>\n

16. Siphosethu Mnebelele
\n17.\u00a0<\/span>Phiwayinkosi \u201cRambo\u201d Kubheka
\n<\/span>18. Herman Lubbe
\n<\/span>19. JJ Theron
\n<\/span>20. Batho Hlekani
\n<\/span>21. Haashim Pead
\n<\/span>22. Ian van der Merwe
\n<\/span>23. Demitre Erasmus<\/p>\n

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

Loose forward Thando Biyela will lead the Junior Springboks in their third and final Pool A match at the World Rugby U20 Championship against Scotland, which kicks off at 15h30 on Wednesday at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano. Even though the SA U20 side show several rotational changes from the team that beat England […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":76976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77100","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\/77100","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=77100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}