Baby Boks head coach Dawie Theron has named a trimmed down squad of 38 players to attend his second SA under-20 trials and training camp in Stellenbosch from 2-9 December.
Predictably in comes Handre Pollard, the top schoolboy rugby player for 2012 and Junior World Championship 2012 winning flyhalf. Joining him is strike wing Luther Obi, one of the most impressive players during this year’s ABSA under-19 provincial tournament. Also new to the squad is Lions lock Louwrens Erasmus who will no doubt add physical edge to any pack he plays in. Leopards centre Marnus Tack was a surprise omission from the original 50-man strong squad named in early November but he did attend that first camp and stood out just like he has during the regular season.
All-in-all 16 players fall by the wayside for various reasons. Of those the notable casualties include Jean Nel, Burger Odendaal, Sean Robinson and Hlanhla Hlongwane. It is also surprising that Grey High’s flashy wing Sergeal Peterson and WP under-21 lock Jean Kleyn did not receive first time call-ups.
The squad consists of 14 Bulls, 8 WP, 6 Sharks, 4 Golden Lions, 3 Free State and 3 Leopards players. Best represented schools are still Grey College and Waterkloof with four players apiece. Affies, Monnas, Gimmies, Tiere and Westville all have two representatives each.
SQUAD
| POSITION | NAME | SURNAME | SCHOOL | PROVINCE |
| Prop LH | Justin | Forwood | Waterkloof | Bulls |
| Prop LH | Sti | Sithole | Westville | WP |
| Hooker | Morne | du Plessis | Waterkloof | Sharks |
| Hooker | Jacques | du Toit | Grey College | Free State |
| Hooker | Frederick | Kirsten | Paarl Boys High | WP |
| Prop TH | Andrew | Beerwinkel | Porterville | Bulls |
| Prop TH | Marne | Coetzee | Glenwood | Sharks |
| Prop TH | Luan | de Bruin | Affies | Free State |
| Prop TH | Neethling | Fouche | Grey College | Bulls |
| Lock | Irne | Herbst | Waterkloof | Bulls |
| Lock | Marvin | Orie | Tygerberg | Bulls |
| Lock | Dennis | Visser | Affies | Bulls |
| Lock | Lourens | Erasmus | Garsfontein | Lions |
| Flank OS | Roelof | Smit | Waterkloof | Bulls |
| Flank OS | Kwagga | Smit | HTS Middelburg | Lions |
| Flank BS | Leneve | Damens | Grey College | Bulls |
| Flank BS | Jacques | du Plessis | Ermelo | Bulls |
| Flank BS | Jurie | van Vuuren | Oakdale | WP |
| No.8 | Justin | Benn | Daniel Pienaar | WP |
| No.8 | Clyde | Davids | Paarl Gym | Bulls |
| No.8 | Ruan | Steenkamp | Monnas | Bulls |
| Scrumhalf | Stefan | Ungerer | Maritzburg Coll | Sharks |
| Scrumhalf | Hanco | Venter | Monnas | Sharks |
| Scrumhalf | Percy | Williams | Oudtshoorn | Lions |
| Flyhalf | Robert | du Preez | Kearsney | Sharks |
| Flyhalf | Tim | Swiel | Bishops | WP |
| Flyhalf | Handre | Pollard | Paarl Gym | Bulls |
| Wing L | Jean-Paul | Lewis | Paul Roos | WP |
| Wing L | Seabelo | Senatla | Harmony | Free State |
| Wing L | Luther | Obi | St Benedicts | Leopards |
| Centre I | Jan | Serfontein | Grey College | Bulls |
| Centre I | Harold | Vorster | Frans du Toit | Lions |
| Centre I | Marnus | Tack | Volkskool (Potch) | Leopards |
| Centre O | Justin | Geduld | Tygerberg | WP |
| Wing R | Tyler | Fisher | Westville | Sharks |
| Wing R | Sylvian | Mahuza | Outeniqua | Leopards |
| Fullback | Cheslin | Kolbe | Brackenfell | WP |
| Fullback | Jacques | Rossouw | Piketburg | Bulls |
EXCLUDED PLAYERS THAT ATTENDED FIRST CAMP
| POSITION | NAME | SURNAME | SCHOOL | PROVINCE |
| Prop LH | Jan | Enslin | Grey High | Bulls |
| Lock | Andrew | Becker | Michaelhouse | WP |
| Lock | Myles | Tucker | Rondebosch | Sharks |
| Flank BS | Tienie | Burger | Grey College | Free State |
| Flank BS | Andrew | van Tonder | EG Jansen | Sharks |
| Scrumhalf | Carlo | Engelbrecht | Affies | Bulls |
| Scrumhalf | Nhlanhla | Hlongwane | Louis Botha | Free State |
| Scrumhalf | Jean | Nel | Paarl Boys High | WP |
| Flyhalf | Francois | Tredoux | Waterkloof | Bulls |
| Wing L | Ruwellyn | Isbell | Grey College | Bulls |
| Centre I | Burger | Odendaal | Monnas | Bulls |
| Centre O | Henko | Marais | Volkskool (Potch) | Leopards |
| Centre O | Jade | Stighling | St Albans | Bulls |
| Wing R | Kefentse | Mahlo | Ben Vorster | Bulls |
| Wing R | Kotaro | Matsushima | T.Gakven,Japan | Sharks |
| Fullback | Sean | Robinson | Waterkloof | Sharks |
@BOG: Still twice as high as Naval Hill!…
@Green Hopper: yes i feel the same at the moment but he will pick up some valuable experience at the camps which will stand him in good stead in the future
@BoishaaiPa: Yes indeed, that is why they built the monument on the mountain as an extension to give it more stature and prominence.But even then, it was not much more than a mound. Du Toiskloof was halfway to Worcester.
@BoishaaiPa: I think he’s confusing Paarl with Parow.
@BOG: Perhaps the downfall of THe Blue Bull…….too many Free Staters in the set up. Where are the days when the Bulls were actually a Western Transvaal XV? Those were the days…….ou Boggom……those were the days.
@BOG: You must really be very old, because apparently the Paarlberg and the Du Toitskloof mountains were still little hilltops when you where there!
@QC86: i hate to be so critical , but i can’t believe he was selected , I don’t see what he adds
@BOG: Emphasis on “after finishing school” not in the Sharks “starting lineup” for me above. No Grey boys came to KZN in 2012 and none expected to arrive in 2013 either. Hopefully 2014 sees them rediscovering the old now overgrown path down to Durban. Unlikely tho as they all now seem to interpret the Niks part of “Tuks of Niks” as referring to the Sharks Academy
@BoishaaiPa: And the only thing in the Paarl which is above 1 mtr altitude,is the monument. Otherwise the rest is maar also plat. You forget that I use to sleep at Huis Lenie at POK, when it still existed- so I know the Paarl@beet: When Frans Steyn and Bismarck returns from injury, there should be 5 OGs in the starting lineup- Doep brothers, FS, Paul Jordaan and Cobus Reinach. Its a third of the side in case you “passed” maths in the last ten years.
I miss the old days when the Grey College boys used to come to Durban after finishing school. Seems like such a long time ago :sad:
@BoishaaiPa:
you nasty
Pretoria is the most “platteland” like Bloem, so that is probably why the Grey boytjies feel at home there!..The real Cities still scare them!
@BOG: Make that 21 players from Grey if you add Corniel Els to the list.
@BOG: Times have changed Grey College players don’t want to swim with the sharkies in durban anymore.
Pine Pienaar can count himself very lucky he could have easily been fired a long time ago.
@Muzi: I would have liked him to return to Bloemfontein to regain the skills which he “lost” in Durban.There are, I believe, more than 20 players from GCB in the BBs structures, excluding the doctor, a coach and now I see, even the conditioning/fitness coach, Andre Volsteedt( son of headmaster, Johan)
@BOG: I see Piet Lindeque has decided to join Francois Venter in Pretoria.
@beet: Has he perhaps got something to prove after not being offered something in Gauteng. Hell hath no fury like a prop scorned
@beet: i am/was very critical of alot of Etianne Fynn’s tactical decisions,but one thing i must say was that for a small pack he got them to scrum well,and i think Marne has learnt a massive amount from him.
@QC86: Marne is surprising a lot people. He did very well at the first camp. I actually wonder if he was perhaps carrying an injury towards the back end of the school season. His scrumming wasn’t great in July/ early August. For the Sharks u19s he then seemed to get the setpiece job done against the best 19yo in the country. In open play he has always been a demon. Super workrate.
@beet: Marne hanging in there,go you good thing.
@BOG: “Isbell are—” Cant believe that I said that-“Isbell IS–” Reminds me of little Jannie in the English class. Jannie: Miss, there is four cows in the meadow” Miss:”No, Jannie, there ARE four cows in the meadow” Jannie: “No, miss, one are a bull”
@QC86: I see that. If this was superbru u20 squad selections, you would be a runaway leader by now :grin:
@BOG: I think Isbell needs 7s to find his touch. As a Bulls wing he has seen precious little of the ball this season. Lots of other wings have had the opportunity to shine while he has been starved of ball.
The teams dont say much.Some of those players who have been excluded, have other commitments. Isbell for example, are with the 7s now.
@beet,hey beet, you see my team is coming together
I think Andrew van Tonder is injured and would surely have been in the squad. Dawie is still not picking Theuns Reynolds. We need a hooker who can do the basics right along with strong scrummaging props and line out specialists. Unlike our senior team we need to go back to the basics and pick specialists in their positions. We do not need a tight five that act as scrum inspectors ala Jannie Breedt and Andries Bekker.