{"id":77626,"date":"2025-07-17T13:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77626"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:52:13","slug":"junior-boks-name-unchanged-line-up-for-world-rugby-u20-championship-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77626","title":{"rendered":"Junior Boks name unchanged line-up for World Rugby u20 Championship Final"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Scrumhalf Haashim Pead under pressure from Argentina’s defence during the World Rugby u20 Championship, 14 July 2025. (Photo: Gallo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Junior Springboks have named an unchanged match-23 for Saturday evening\u2019s much-anticipated World Rugby U20 Championship Final against New Zealand in Rovigo, Italy.<\/p>\n

Lock Riley Norton will once again lead a familiar-looking side that has featured in most of the pool matches, as well as Monday\u2019s semi-final victory over Argentina.<\/p>\n

The unchanged line-up means the bench will again feature a split of six forwards and two backs in what promises to be an epic battle between the two southern hemisphere rugby rivals.<\/p>\n

Junior Bok head coach Kevin Foote said the SA U20s have done well to reach the final and they are excited to face their greatest rivals with a settled side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been our settled combination for most of the year, and the team play with great synergy,\u201d said Foote, who admitted it was yet again difficult to leave players out of the match-day squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven how well everyone has played, it was such a difficult task to leave anyone out. We are grateful for the absolute selflessness of the players not selected for Saturday\u2019s final, and for how hard they are training to ensure the team is well prepared for New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to pick six forwards on the bench yet again, as they made a difference in the semi-final against Argentina, and we also learned some valuable lessons when we faced New Zealand in the U20 Rugby Championship in South Africa a few months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s decider marks the Junior Boks\u2019 first appearance in the final since 2014, and it\u2019s a repeat of the 2012 final in which South Africa beat New Zealand at Newlands in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

The SA U20s have been in rampant form throughout the Championship in Italy, posting comprehensive wins over Australia, defending champions England, and Scotland in the group stage, followed by a hard-earned victory over a gritty Argentina in the semi-finals on Monday evening.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s dynamic pack of forwards has laid an excellent platform for their electric backline to score some eye-catching tries. The Junior Bok halfback pairing of Haashim Pead (scrumhalf) and Vusi Moyo (flyhalf) are amongst the tournament\u2019s leading points scorers.<\/p>\n

Pead has scored six tries in four games \u2013 the most by any player so far this year \u2013 while also providing numerous assists for teammates. Moyo has racked up 50 points across his four appearances, placing him at the top of the overall points\u2019 scoring chart.<\/p>\n

New Zealand, like South Africa, are unbeaten in the tournament, having topped Pool B before dispatching a dangerous French side in the semi-finals to set up an exciting final showdown with the Junior Boks.<\/p>\n

The World Rugby U20 Championship Final kicks off at 20h30 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.<\/p>\n

The Junior Springbok team to face New Zealand in Rovigo:<\/strong><\/p>\n

15 Gilermo Mentoe
\n14 Cheswill Jooste
\n13 Demitre Erasmus
\n12 Albie Bester
\n11 Jaco Williams
\n10 Vusi Moyo
\n9 Haashim Pead
\n8 Wandile Mlaba
\n7 Bathobele Hlekani
\n6 Xola Nyali
\n5 JJ Theron
\n4 Riley Norton (captain)
\n3 Herman Lubbe
\n2 Siphosethu Mnebelele
\n1 Simphiwe Ngobese<\/p>\n

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

16 Jaundr\u00e9 Schoeman
\n17 Oliver Reid
\n18 Jean Erasmus
\n19 Jaco Grobbelaar
\n20 Matt Romao
\n21 Stephanus Linde
\n22 Ceano Everson
\n23 Dominic Malgas<\/p>\n

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

The Junior Springboks have named an unchanged match-23 for Saturday evening\u2019s much-anticipated World Rugby U20 Championship Final against New Zealand in Rovigo, Italy. Lock Riley Norton will once again lead a familiar-looking side that has featured in most of the pool matches, as well as Monday\u2019s semi-final victory over Argentina. The unchanged line-up means the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77626","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\/77626","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=77626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}