Junior Boks captain Riley Norton will lead the SA U19 Academy team against France U19 in Châteauroux on Saturday.
The lock will captain a side featuring four more players from the Junior Boks’ World Rugby U20 Championship-winning team in the first of two matches on their European tour. They will meet their Irish counterparts next week in Cork.
The other capped Junior Boks in the starting XV are prop Oliver Reid, hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele and flyhalf Vusi Moyo, while prop Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka is on the bench.
The SA U19s got a taste of what to expect when they participated in a series of combined field sessions with the French U19 squad – who are also based at the French High-Performance Centre in Marcoussis – on Monday.
Junior Boks coach Kevin Foote described Saturday’s match as a special occasion, with the clash seen in many ways as a curtain raiser to the much-anticipated blockbuster Test later Saturday evening in Paris between France and the Springboks.
Foote said his team would also use the match to honour Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who will run out for his 100th Test at the Stade de France.
“We want to play well for our country and play well for Siya in particular, for appearing in his 100th Test for the Springboks; and we want to honour him with our performance.”
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Regarding the selection for Saturday afternoon’s match day squad, which consist of 26 players as agreed to by both teams, Foote said: “It’s always challenging with such a talented group, but there were three things we considered when selecting the group. The first thing was that we tracked the guys the whole year, in the Varsity Cup and the SA Rugby U21 and U19 provincial competitions.
“We’ve also seen how they have committed to our programme and how they have settled down and fitted into how we want to play, and what our culture is. And then, of course, we took into consideration their performances in our ‘friendly match’ against France on Monday.”
The match in Châteauroux will kick off at 3:30pm (SA time) and local organisers have confirmed that more than 7,000 tickets have already been sold.
SA U19 ACADEMY – 15 Akahluwa Boqwana, 14 Lindsey Jansen, 13 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, 12 Pieter van der Merwe, 11 Dylan Miller, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Elgernon Meyer, 8 Reuben Kruger, 7 Aiden de Costa, 6 Kebotile Maake, 5 Riley Norton (c), 4 Heinrich Theron, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 1 Oliver Reid.
Bench: 16 Liam van Wyk, 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka, 18 Ulrich van der Merwe, 19 JD Hattingh, 20 Tom Barnard, 21 Vuyo Gwiji, 22 Luan Giliomee, 23 Janco Purchase, 24 Risima Khosa, 25 Brooklyn Newman, 26 Unathi Mlotshwa.
Photo: SA Rugby
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Junior Boks captain Riley Norton will lead the SA U19 Academy team against France U19 in Châteauroux on Saturday.
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