Stassen blow for Junior Boks before England semifinal

The Junior Springboks were dealt a big blow before their World Rugby Under-20 Championship semi-final against England after powerful lock Hendre Stassen was ruled out with a knee injury.

Stassen‚ from the Blue Bulls‚ was an enormous presence in the Junior Boks’ last two games against Georgia and Argentina‚ which were won 38-14 and 72-14 respectively.

They face England in the last four on Tbilisi on Tuesday‚ in a repeat of last year’s semi-final‚ which England won 39-17.

Last year’s SA Schools captain Salmaan Moerat replaces Stassen in the only change to the starting XV that thrashed the Pumitas last Thursday‚ and he will need to produce the game of his life against the highly physical England pack.

Stassen was not only a huge physical presence at 2.01m tall and 116kg‚ but he showed that he has great skills and a high work rate.

Moerat has heaps of potential but hasn’t had the same impact in his three outings so far. He has a great opportunity against England to change that.

Coach Chean Roux was forced into two changes on the bench as well‚ with prop Lee-Marvin Mazibuko replacing Wikus Groenewald‚ who has the flu‚ while Reinhard Nothnagel will provide back-up for Moerat and Van Heerden.

“We looked at England’s strengths and we think these are the best combinations for us for the semi-final‚” Roux said about his team selection.

Roux said he is expecting a physical onslaught from England‚ who are the defending champions‚ but added his team’s focus was on delivering a quality performance to advance to the final.

England defeated Ireland 45-21 in the final of the 2016 edition of the tournament in Manchester to win the competition for a second time in three years.

“This is a big game for us‚” said Roux.

“England are a physical side and they are full of confidence. They are the defending champions as well. But that said‚ our plans are in place as a team and we just need to go out there and execute it.”

England are also the current Six Nations Under-20 champions but they were nearly eliminated from the tournament before claiming a last gasp 20-19 win over Australia in their final pool match last week.

"This group has got huge character‚ they have shown it against Ireland to win the Grand Slam and they showed it against Australia to get us into this semi-final‚" England coach Tony Williams said.

"South Africa are an interesting team‚ because they provide two separate type of challenges - they have a big forward pack and some quick and exciting backs.”

New Zealand‚ who missed out the semi-finals for the first time in 2016‚ will take on France in the other semi-final. France were in the Junior Boks’ pool and drew 23-23 with SA in the opening match of the tournament.

They were also Six Nations runners-up.

England: 15 Tom Parton‚ 14 Darren Atkins‚ 13 Will Butler‚ 12 Theo Brophy Clews‚ 11 Gabriel Ibitoye‚ 10 Max Malins‚ 9 Alex Mitchell‚ 8 Zach Mercer‚ 7 Ben Earl‚ 6 Dino Lamb‚ 5 Justin Clegg‚ 4 Josh Caulfield‚ 3 Marcus Street‚ 2 Joe Mullis‚ 1 Ralph Adams-Hale.

Replacements: 16 Henry Walker‚ 17 Ollie Dawe‚ 18 Ciaran Knight‚ 19 Max Davies‚ 20 Josh Bayliss‚ 21 Harry Randall‚ 22 Jacob Umaga‚ 23 Paolo Odogwu.

South Africa: 15 Manie Libbok‚ 14 Yaw Penxe‚ 13 Wandisile Simelane‚ 12 Damian Willemse‚ 11 Gianni Lombard‚ 10 Curwin Bosch‚ 9 Embrose Papier‚ 8 Juarno Augustus‚ 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain)‚ 6 Len Massyn‚ 5 Ruben van Heerden‚ 4 Salmaan Moerat‚ 3 Carlu Sadie‚ 2 Johan Grobbelaar‚ 1 Kwenzo Blose.

Replacements: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp‚ 17 Daniel Jooste‚ 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko‚ 19 Reinhard Nothnagel‚ 20 Muller Uys‚ 21 Francois de Villiers‚ 22 Stedman Gans‚ 23 Jeanluc Cilliers.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport