Coach Kevin Foote has revealed the staggering number of 2026 Junior Boks who will be eligible for their 2027 campaign.
The SA U20s retained the Junior World Championship title with a 16-5 victory against France U20 in Tbilisi on Saturday night, and Foote believes they are well placed to chase a third successive crown.
Foote told Rugby365 that seven players who featured in the final – centres Markus Muller and Ethan Adams, flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, No 8 Wasi Vyambwera, prop Luan van der Berg, loose forward Gert Kemp and scrumhalf Jayden Brits – will still qualify next year, along with another 19 or 20 players who appeared at some stage of the 2026 season.
“Guys like Christian Vorster, Quintin Potgieter, Altus Rabe and AJ Meyer will be back playing with us again,” he added. “There are lots of guys who have been in the system and attended our camps who will come back to us.”
ALSO: Junior Boks doc to the rescue on plane
Foote believes the continuity within the squad will be invaluable.
“Just the experience of being at the World Cup and playing on a five-day turnaround, being in that pressure and seeing the physicality will be excellent for our players.
“They will go in there with their eyes wide open.
“We also have a nice leadership group that will be with us again, and that will be very important.”
WESSELS: Junior Boks follow Bok lead
The Junior Boks coach said building depth had been a key objective throughout the season.
“Luckily we had a U20 Rugby Championship, a U20 Rugby Championship ‘A’ and our trip to Georgia [at the beginning of the year].
“We had already started building depth in certain positions. Creating depth and making sure we have a great system is important for us.”
Photo: Tamuna Kulumbegashvili/World Rugby
The post Junior Boks primed for JWC hat-trick bid appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Kevin Foote has revealed the staggering number of 2026 Junior Boks who will be eligible for their 2027 campaign.
The post Junior Boks primed for JWC hat-trick bid appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
