![\"JuniorSpringboks\"](\"https:\/\/rugby.supersportschools.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JuniorSpringboks.jpg\")
Junior Springbok flyhalf Damian Willemse will make his first appearance of the season for the SA U20\u2019s in a settled starting team when Chean Roux\u2019s charges meet Georgia in their opening match of the World Rugby U20 Championship at Stade Aim\u00e9 Giral in Perpignan on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Willemse, one of seven players in the match-day squad who participated in the tournament in Georgia last year, will partner with Zak Burger at halfback after coming off a solid Vodacom Super Rugby campaign for the DHL Stormers in the last few months.<\/p>\n
Lock and captain Salmaan Moerat, centre Wandisile Simelane, No 8 Muller Uys, fullback Gianni Lombard, hooker Daniel Jooste and replacement scrumhalf Rewan Kruger are the other players in Roux\u2019s match-23 who featured in the international spectacle in Tbilisi.<\/p>\n
Moerat and Ruan Nortje will form the lock duo, while flankers Dian Schoonees and PJ Steenkamp pair up with Uys in the loose trio, and Rikus Pretorius and Simelane will do duty in the midfield.<\/p>\n
Lombard starts at fullback, with Tyrone Green and Sihle Njezula at wing, while Jooste and props Sazi Sandi and Nathan McBeth will pack down in the front row.<\/p>\n
On the bench, replacement lock Ruan Nortje will make his Junior Springbok debut if he takes to the field after missing the team\u2019s internationals in the lead-up to the tournament due to a knee injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were fortunate to be able to select a settled squad, which will be handy against a physical and passionate Georgian outfit,\u201d said Roux.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the players are fit and eager to play, and we selected a team that we thought would be best suited to the game against Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead at the clash against Georgia, Roux said he is expecting a physical onslaught: \u201cGeorgia play with their hearts on their sleeves and they will take to the field with everything they have. They are a forward-driven team, with a good scrum and lineout maul, so they will probably try to lay the foundation there. But that said, our plans for the game are mapped out and hopefully we can counter that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The match kicks off at 18h30 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Junior Springbok team to face Georgia:<\/strong><\/p>\n 15 \u2013 Gianni Lombard (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 14 \u2013 Tyrone Green (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 13 \u2013 Wandisile Simelane (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 12 \u2013 Rikus Pretorius (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 11 \u2013 Sihle Njezula (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 10 \u2013 Damian Willemse (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 9 \u2013 Zak Burger (Cell C Sharks)<\/p>\n 8 \u2013 Muller Uys (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 7 \u2013 PJ Steenkamp (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 6 \u2013 Dian Schoonees (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 5 \u2013 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Blue Bulls)<\/p>\n 4 \u2013 Salmaan Moerat (captain \u2013 DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 3 \u2013 Sazi Sandi (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 2 \u2013 Daniel Jooste (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 1 \u2013 Nathan McBeth (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n Replacements:<\/strong><\/p>\n 16 \u2013 Schalk Erasmus (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 17 \u2013 Alulutho Tshakweni (Eastern Province)<\/p>\n 18 \u2013 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 19 \u2013 Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n 20 \u2013 Ruan Vermaak (Xerox Golden Lions)<\/p>\n 21 \u2013 Rewan Kruger (Toyota Free State)<\/p>\n 22 \u2013 Lubabalo Dobela (Toyota Free State)<\/p>\n 23 \u2013 Lyle Hendricks (DHL Western Province)<\/p>\n Issued by SA Rugby Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Junior Springbok flyhalf Damian Willemse will make his first appearance of the season for the SA U20\u2019s in a settled starting team when Chean Roux\u2019s charges meet Georgia in their opening match of the World Rugby U20 Championship at Stade Aim\u00e9 Giral in Perpignan on Wednesday. Willemse, one of seven players in the match-day squad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8239","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\/8239","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=8239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}