Cheswill Jooste and Zekhethelo Siyaya have been included in the Junior Boks squad for the U20 Rugby Championship pending their URC duties.
The Sanzaar tournament starts on 27 April in Gqeberha.
Winger Jooste and fullback Siyaya are currently on tour with the Vodacom Bulls and Sharks respectively. While Jooste is sidelined with a foot injury, Siyaya is set to make his URC debut against the Ospreys on Saturday.
Junior Boks coach Kevin Foote included four members of the SA U20 squad that won the Junior World Championship in Italy last year – captain Riley Norton, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Oliver Reid and Vusi Moyo.
They are joined in the squad by centres Markus Muller and Ethan Adams, No 8 Gert Kemp and prop Kai Pratt, all of who played for SA U18 last year.
The squad was picked from the SA U20 training group who were preparing for the Sanzaar event in Stellenbosch for the past two weeks.
Former Wynberg lock Jaythen Orange and UCT midfielder Olunje Mehlomakulu were late additions to the squad in place of the injured AJ Meyer and Christian Vorster.
Injury also ruled out regular Junior Boks training squad member Luan Giliomee.
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Foote said it was no easy task to reduce the training squad from 43 players to 31 for the tournament.
“We asked a lot of the group over the past two weeks, because we wanted to step up the intensity and increase their fitness, and they responded splendidly.
“We know from experience that the southern hemisphere teams play a high tempo game, and we are looking forward to playing an exciting brand of rugby with lots of ball in play.
“We tailored our camp programme around those focus-areas, so that we can prepare our players accordingly for what they will encounter in the Rugby Championship. We also continued to work hard on our cohesion and our game model, and the coaching staff are very pleased with the effort of all the young men.
“Unfortunately, we can only take a squad of 31, and so we feel for those players who missed out on final selection. We will fine-tune our final preparations in Gqeberha before our opening match on 27 April against Argentina.”
Junior Boks squad for U20 Rugby Championship
Props: Oliver Reid (Stormers), Rambo Kubheka (Sharks), Jordan Jooste (Stormers), Danie Kruger (Stormers), Kai Pratt (Sharks).
Hookers: Siphosethu Mnebelele (Bulls), Liam van Wyk (Sharks).
Locks: Heinrich Theron (Bulls), Riley Norton (c, Stormers), JD Hattingh (Lions), Jaythen Orange (Lions).
Loose forwards: Kebotile Maake (Bulls), Risima Khosa (Lions), Luke Canon (Lions), Thomas Beling (Bulls), Wasi Vyambwera (Sharks), Gert Kemp (Stormers).
Scrumhalves: Hendré Schoeman (Bulls), Jayden Brits (Stormers).
Flyhalves: Yaqeen Ahmed (Stormers), Vusi Moyo (Sharks).
Centres: Ethan Adams (Lions), Samuel Badenhorst (Stormers), Markus Muller (Stormers), Olunje Mehlomakulu (Stormers).
Outside backs: Khuthadzo Rasivhaga (Sharks), Lindsey Jansen (Bulls), Jack Benade (Stormers), Jade Muller (Cheetahs)*, Akahluwa Boqwana (Bulls)*, Alzeadon Felix (Sharks), Cheswill Jooste (Bulls)*, Zekhethelo Siyaya (Sharks)*.
*On standby. The squad will be finalised on completion of the weekend’s URC fixtures and depending on medical reports.
Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
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