Junior Boks warned of 'battle'

21 April 2015 - 02:15 By Craig Ray

Junior Springbok coach Dawie Theron has cautioned that his youngsters will face a tough battle when they take on a Varsity Cup "dream team" in Stellenbosch tonight. This is a first outing of the year for the Junior Boks as they finalise preparations for this year's World Championships in Italy in June.Under Theron the Junior Boks won the world title on home soil in 2012 and were runners-up in New Zealand last year, losing to England in the final."This game is going to be very tough.People believe the Junior Boks will simply arrive and beat the Varsity Cup team," Theron said."That's not the case. The average age of the Junior Boks is 19 and four months and the Varsity Cup dream team is nearly 24."It's a senior side, fresh out of the competition, taking on very young players."Some of the Varsity Cup players also represented the Junior Boks over the past three years."Guys like Wiaan Liebenberg, who captained the Junior Boks to the 2012 crown, Nqobisizwe Mxoli, and Dayan van der Westhuizen understand our structures."It's what we need before we head off to the World Championships," he said.The dream team is made up of the best players from the recently concluded Varsity Cup, which saw Shimlas win for the first time.Losing semifinalists Tuks provide seven players with six players from tournament runners-up Pukke in the group. Shimlas only have four players on show...

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