Theron's last stand as Baby Boks aim for World Championships bronze

24 June 2016 - 17:51 By Craig Ray

South Africa under-20 coach Dawie Theron will oversee his charges for a final time when the Junior Springboks take on Argentina in the Bronze medal match at the World Championships in Manchester on Saturday. Theron has been in charge since 2011 and in that time the side has delivered one world title – on home soil in 2012 – and also a runners-up finish in New Zealand in 2014. He will join Japanese club side Docomo Red Hurricanes next month.“It’s the end of a six year association with the team and I have great memories of coaching and I would like to end on a high note‚” Theron said.“I really want the players to enjoy themselves but also to put a brilliant performance together for South Africa.” This year the side has come up short after a pool loss to Argentina (19-13) and also a heavy 39-14 semi-final defeat against hosts England on Monday.No Junior Bok team has ever lost three matches in a single tournament so there is a lot to play for with a rejigged team‚ which sees six changes from the side that lost to England.No 8 Junior Pokomela will captain the Junior Boks in the absence of the suspended Jeremy Ward. “At this stage of the tournament we are dealing with a lot of niggles and we had several players that couldn’t take part in training this week‚” Theron said.“Also Jeremy Ward is not available for this game‚ so that necessitated a change and we also looked at fatigue and the medical condition of the team. “That played a major role in our team selection this week and we believe this is the freshest team we can select.” The changes to the team will see the front row of hooker Jan-Henning Campher and props Franco van den Berg and Carlü Sadie start in place of Tango Balekile‚ Nicolaas Oosthuizen and Jaco Holtzhausen respectively‚ while flanker Cobus Wiese takes over from Ernst van Rhyn in the loose trio.In the backline‚ Franco Naude comes in at outside centre‚ while Stedman Gans will make his first appearance in the competition on the right wing in place of Mosolwa Mafuma.Leopards flyhalf Benhard Janse van Rensburg‚ who joined the team on Thursday as injury cover‚ has been named on the bench alongside Balekile‚ Oosthuizen‚ prop Kwenzo Blose‚ lock Eduard Zandberg‚ No 8 Denzel Hill‚ scrumhalf James Hall and fullback Keanu Vers.“Argentina will definitely come with a lot of passion‚” Theron said.“They have been very good and they believe they have a good chance against us after a good tournament. They will be disruptive when it comes to breakdown and set piece.“We’ve been studying them and we have worked hard on our planning to combat what they throw at us.”Baby Boks on the verge of being dumped out of Junior World ChampionshipsSouth Africa are on the brink of a disappointing group phase elimination from the Junior World Championships in Manchester unless they can secure a bonus point victory over France tomorrow evening. Fullback/flyhalf Curwin Bosch has also been nominated as one of the World Under-20 Players of the Year following his excellent performances in Manchester.Bosch will go up against Ireland No 8 Max Deegan‚ Japanese wing Ataata Moeakiola‚ England flyhalf Harry Mallinder‚ and New Zealand wing Shaun Stevenson for the prestigious award.Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard was the last South African player to win the award‚ in 2014‚ while Springbok centre Jan Serfontein walked away with the spoils in 2012‚ when the Junior Boks won the tournament on home ground.Bosch‚ who turns 19 on Saturday‚ still has another year at this level.Junior Bok team: - 15 Curwin Bosch‚ 14 Stedman Gans‚ 13 Franco Naude‚ 12 JT Jackson‚ 11 Edwill van der Merwe‚ 10 Manie Libbok‚ 9 Marco Jansen van Vuuren‚ 8 Junior Pokomela‚ 7 Cobus Wiese‚ 6 Zain Davids‚ 5 Eli Snyman‚ 4 Ruben de Villiers‚ 3 Carlu Sadie‚ 2 Jan-Henning Campher‚ 1 Franco van den Berg.Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile‚ 17 Kwenso Blose‚ 18 Nicolaas Oosthuizen‚ 19 Eduard Zandberg‚ 20 Denzil Hill‚ 21 James Hall‚ 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg‚ 23 Keanu Vers...

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