Four Junior Springboks will attend this year’s 35-player SA Rugby Academy Programme to continue preparations for the international youth season.
This includes the inaugural U20 Rugby Championship in Australia and the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa.
The talented group of rugby players will assemble from Monday at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport and will be together intermittently until the end of June.
Ten players return for a second stint with programme, including four who represented the Boks in last year’s World Rugby event in Cape Town.
The four capped Junior Boks in the squad are prop Zachary Porthen, lock JF van Heerden, and centres Litelihle Bester and Jurenzo Julius.
The academy is one of the key pillars in preparing the top juniors in the country make the step-up to the SA U20 squad. The well-structured programme was launched seven years ago and aims to balance formal education with high performance training and player welfare.
In announcing the group of players, which consists of 21 forwards and 14 backs, Bafana Nhleko emphasised that the door is not closed to players who might have missed out.
A further eight players have been identified, but were not considered for the initial part of the programme because of injury.
According to the Junior Bok head coach, the provincial U20 and U19 competitions, as well as the Currie Cup, Varsity Cup and the EPD programme have given them a very good idea of the wider group of players to consider for the Academy intake.
“We are pleased with the composition of the group and whilst we already started with the planning process last year, and continued with it into January, when we held some position specific and alignment camps, the hard work will now start in earnest,” said Nhleko.
“Our alignment and position specific camps gave us a very good opportunity to engage early with the players, as well as their coaches and conditioning staff.
“We could present to them what we expect from those selected and what they would need to do to improve on so that they can stay in consideration for the Academy Programme.”
Nhleko also mentioned they will continue to monitor a wider group of players and engage with coaches at provincial, universities, and clubs to ensure they track all the players in the system.
A number of training matches against senior provincial outfits are part of the plan to assist the Junior Boks in their preparations for the season, with South Africa again hosting the World Rugby U20 Championship for a second successive year in Cape Town during June and July, when the SA U20s will be pooled with England, Argentina, and Fiji in Group C.
The Junior Boks finished third last year after beating England in their bronze medal playoff game in the Athlone Stadium, while France defended their U20 world title successfully.
Full SA Rugby Academy squad:
Props: Casper Badenhorst (Vodacom Bulls), Ronan Dutton (Lions), Reno Hirst (Lions), Mbasa Maquabela (Vodacom Bulls), Zachary Porthen (Western Province)**, Ruan Swart (Bulls). Hookers: Luca Bakkes (Western Province)*, CJ Erasmus (Western Province), Juan Smal (Bulls). Locks: Keanu Coetzee (Bulls), Ulrich van der Westhuizen (Sharks), Thomas Dyer (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jaco Grobbelaar (Bulls), Bathobele Hlekani (Sharks), JF van Heerden (Bulls)**. Loose forwards: JJ Theron (Bulls), Sibabalwe Mahashe (Lions)*, Divan Fuller (Western Province), Sphephelo Mbonambi (Sharks), Thabang Mphafi (Lions)*, Wandile Mlaba (Western Province – will attend the programme intermittently). Scrumhalves: Hassiem Pead (Lions), Ezekiel Ngubene (Western Province). Flyhalves: Liam Koen (Bulls), Tyler Sefoor (Cheetahs)*, Thurlon Williams (Lions)*. Centres: Litelihle Bester (Sharks)**, Joshua Boulle (Western Province), Jurenzo Julius (Sharks)**, Philip-Albert van Niekerk (Bulls). Outside backs: Jayden Bantom (Bulls), Michail Damon (Bulls), Alfondso Isaacs (Bulls), Joel Leotlela (Western Province & SA Sevens)*, JC Mars (Western Province).
* Denotes players selected for the 2023 Academy Programme
** Denotes players selected for the 2023 Academy Programme and Junior Boks
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix