Coach Dawie Theron has named his SA Under 20 side to take on the Ikey Tigers in a trial match in Cape Town tomorrow.
The match, which kicks off at 16h30 at UCT, will see the Baby Boks put through their paces over four 20-minute chukkas, with regular rotation of players allowing the coach to assess individuals and combinations. Bulls loose forward Wiaan Liebenberg will lead the side in the number 7 jersey. Province centre Pat Howard, called up as a late injury replacement to the squad, will start at inside centre.
The Sharks under 19 trio of props Allan Dell and Maks van Dyk and flanker Khaya Majola have all been named to start. Hooker Franco Marais will play off the bench.
The SA Under-20 team is: 15 Marais Schmidt, 14 JJ de Klerk, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Patrick Howard, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Mark Pretorius, 1 Allan Dell.
Replacements: Gideon Muller, Marzuq Maarman, Jason Thomas, Franco Marais, Mihlali Mpafi, Ettiene Oosthuizen, Jacques du Plessis, Cobus Nel, Shaun Adendorff, Poerie van Rooyen, KK Hlungwane, Errol Jaggers, Mathys Smit, Jan Serfontein, Ruwellyn Isbell.
Watch Jan Serfontein!!!Brilliant player a Jean de Villiers in the making.
Happy for Dell and van Dyk in the front row.
Majola is a major talent in the making, I hope the Sharks can hold onto him.
Would have loved to watch this game, especially to see Jantjies in action, I have read good things!
@Beet Hey i said the other day Dell and Dyk will be the first choice front row.
Dell and Dyk were the two stand out props in my honest opinion this year very strong boys and technically great scrummagers.
Guys i played against Majola when Westville toured JHB he was brilliant.
This is a big opportunity for Tony Jantjies,Goosen is the general and first choice BUT Tony needs a big one if he is on form the team will do well.
Happy for Ismael he was a try scoring machine.
The key will be the dou of Pat and William if they click together then Dawie has some tough decisions to make.
@Beet Damn this
Van Rooyen has been playing second fiddle to that spoilt kid Luiters for two years now in the SA Schools set up.
I’m not being biased BUT i would have picked Van Rooyen at 9.
Wiaan deserves it he has such a great season last year.
Hope we can offer him a senior contract soon he has BIG future.
Those two lions locks have a bright future.
Botha and Willemse gave the bulls under 19 side a tough time.
Majola is top class ,expect him to play for the sharks one day. Howard @ 12?? Shaun Adendorff = glenwood boy?
What Ive seen of Jantjies ive been impressed, like his distribution ,however not having Goosen is a huge blow .If all options were fine to start id play Howard at wing and Jordaan and Goosen reunited at 12 and 10 respectively
@Muzi (Comment 6) : woooah gave the bulls a tough time did they??
@Talent (Comment 8) : More than a tought time
in fact the two bulls locks Marvin Orie and Schalk van Heerden had a day to forget 
they lost all our line out balls. 
You should have watched the final Botha and Willemse were brutal.
Willemse is a groot seun geez groot beef i tell you.
@Muzi (Comment 3) : Ja. Well done. You were right. I’m happy for our props but I realise it’s early days.
I recall the best centre partnership of u19 CC 2010 being part of the squad prior to a game against a WP XV in 2011 and then getting axed straight afterwards so there are no certainties.
The really big surprises are Booysen at no.8 and Pat Howard straight in at 12 ahead of Serfontein.
I suspect that Kevin got the nod coz Vian is injured.
@beet (Comment 10) : Heimar and Piet?
Good side, im sure there will be a few change when superrugby players come back. Kitshoff for instance will get the 1 jersey, not sure if Dell will move to tighthead in that case. Also i would imagine Ruan Venter will play 4, seems he is training with the Lions Superugby team – which is interesting. And obviously Peter Steph Du Toit will be around, never mind Goosen and Jordaan
@Muzi (Comment 9) : hey Muz… you get my BBM add request?
@Pat (Comment 12) : Dello will have that ginger kid for breakfast man
Who do people think will be captain? Liebenberg?
@robdylan (Comment 14) :
He is a proper ginger! Ha but that said looks an amazing prospect, think Dell will move to 3 much like SA schools days.
Was dissapointed with Schalk van Heerden last year,but Ruan Botha is a dark horse,he’s not a beefy boy like his fellow Lions u19 locks,but I don’t believe that any lock in the u19 comp last year possesses this lad’s lineout prowess,that said he should be back-up to P-S du Toit and Ruan Venter. Allan should be 1st choice no.3,the only lad I believed would pose a threat to him as 1st choice was Pieter Stemmet,but he’s been dropped from the squad.
@Muzi (Comment 6) :
Yep Willemse is a monster! Just think he will need to get his conditioning up to speed and try and become a competent 2 jumper before he can go any further. Ruan Botha is a great talent, we have a lot of good young locks, im gonna watch Etzebeth with interest as well in the warmups.
@robdylan (Comment 13) : Hey thanks man i got your bbm request BUT i rejected you
jokes i accepted. 
@Ludz (Comment 17) : Bro relax sure our locks were not up to scratch last year BUT xander did not splash all that cash to sign Jacques Du Plessis,Irne Herbst,Daniel Du Preez and Dennis Visser for nothing they are the future.
@Pat (Comment 15) : Ask Beet about liebenberg he will not disappoint you.
He was a stand out performer for the bulls under 21 side last year.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 2) : Going to try and get down to UCT for this game but my day is a bit all over the place tomorrow.
@Pat (Comment 18) : When the lions bought Willemse in the second half i knew the bulls under 19s were in for rough ride
Everytime Willemse got the ball he broke tackle after tackle.
Hell even some of those bulls junior players had enough i could see some were damn scared.
He was just damn big.
I even kept asking myself is he really under 19.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 22) : Can you please please give us feedback.
@robdylan (Comment 11) : Heimar and Piet are under 21 this year.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 22) : Didn’t I hear this story before when we were looking for someone to scout JP du Plessis last year – an empty promise
It might have been Wes tho.
@robdylan (Comment 11) : Ja. Oom Dawie sent Frans Venter and Brad Moolman packing from the squad and then after Michael vd Spuy ran rings around the u20 team in a warm-up he had a sudden change of heart and the rest is history.
@beet (Comment 10) : Looking at this selection one can come to a conclusion that dawie will do the exact samething like last year.
Pat Howard can have a blinder BUT Jordaan should start at 12
Same with the props Ginger is an autamatic selection unless Allister gives Dawie the finger
Craig Barru is ashoe in that is why Marais is just filling in at full back.
We know tony will be back up to goosen.
What confuses me is the centre combo.
I have no idea who will get fired.
@Pat (Comment 18) : His jumping is a real worry to me. He had no problems getting the job done for Monnas but last year Mark Pretorius seemed to avoid him like the plague at lineout time for Lions u19
@Muzi (Comment 28) : The thing about Marais Schmidt is that he is both flyhalf and fullback cover and an educated placekicker. I don’t think anyone else besides Tony J can kick for posts in the squad as it stands.
@beet (Comment 27) : It’s a blue bulls thing
If you are a bulls junior player you have an 80 percent chance of making the SA Unde 20 side.
No matter how rubbish you are skosan is an example.
thats me for sure hehe
Sure at the end if the day if makes one gloat like no one’s business.
It’s still unfair in my honest opinion.
@Ludz (Comment 17) : That Bulls Grant Khomo lock. I’m pretty sure his name is Rudolph Snyman. We’ll have to keep a good eye on him at Affies these next couple of years. He can jol!
@beet (Comment 30) : Ja…..but i watched Marais he is no Jaco Taute.
What about that guy Juan Nel sure he had massive guns on his arms and my god probably the best blonde hair cut in PTA.
He was dangerous with ball in hand.
@Muzi (Comment 31) : Well I heard that Rudolph was sitting next to oom Dawie at trials and one of our coaches assisted the u20 sessions as well, so I think things might be changing a bit
@beet (Comment 32) : Watch him end up at WP like Quin Roux and Gerbrandt Grobler
@beet (Comment 34) : you joking right i mean thats totally unfair
@Muzi (Comment 36) : Apparently there were representatives from the Sharks, Bulls, Lions and Cheetahs there but WP and the Leopards didn’t have a top brass man present and it seemed to have been depicted in the 45 man squad that contained just 1 Leopard and only a few WP players, I think 4-5.
Dawie seemed confused last year to be honest,axing players and bringing them back. Watched that young Snyman,2.04m at 16 is unbelievable,he’s another Andries Bekker,massive lad with great mobility for his size
@robdylan (Comment 11) : Any other thoughts perhaps from the Pat Howard / MHS detractors who were quite vociferous in a previous thread regarding his call up to the SAU20 squad and rejection by the Sharks hierarchy? Brendan Venter (interview skills aside) is no fool. Has to be some versatility / talent involved for a natural 13 to be picked at 12 and word is he and WSS seem to gel iro running lines and communication. Given that he covers wing as well, too early to pencil-in the ex MHS and SA U18 utility back in the side? Any comments?
@Micky (Comment 39) : In my honest opinion the inside centre position is between Jordaan,Howard and Serfontein.
I would play Serfontein as a wing this year.
Micky,have to be quite honest,I have been hoping that Pat Howard makes the squad,I still reckon that he’s a better attacking no.13 when compared to WSS,great strength,very aggressive,wonderful runner. Defensively I’d say both are very good,what I feel gives WSS the edge at no.13 are his communication skills and also his leadership of the backline,it is essential for an outside centre to have these attributes as he brings the back 3 into play. 12 is where Pat Howard impressed me at CW in 2010,in my opinion probably the best no.12 on show at that CW,it’s a pity he had to take a backseat to Ace Jho and Paul Jordaan who already had big reputations and were always a shoe-in for SA u18 honours
@Ludz (Comment 41) : Can’t argue with this. I recall the KZN / FS match at CW 2010 where Pat scored beating WSS on the outside. Also, note how Jho has faded – benched for the Bulls most of time last year, I think. Selection at this level is tricky with the midfielders available to Theron. Am I correct that in the first SA U20 squad named this year, Jordaan was pencilled in as a wing? With wing options like Howard, Serfontein, Jordaan all offering centre cover, the incumbent 11′s and 14′s must be somewhat concerned
@Micky (Comment 42) : Andile Jho is flat footed he just runs hard he is not as good as i thought he was.Sure he looked good at school level BUT he was found wanting last year.
Gimmies and WP academy outside centre Christopher Bosch kept him on the bench because bossie is a gamebreaker,he can offload,step and feed his outside backs well.WSS and Bossie clicked well last year.
Tygerbergs High schools wing Travis Ismael needs a big one today he has Ruwellyn Isbell for competition he was potent last year for the bulls under 19s.
As things look right now the baby boks backline might look like this:
9.Luiters
10.Goosen
11.Serfontein
12.Howard
13.WSS
14.Jordaan
15.Barry
Ruwellyn is just filling in for Barry,de klerk and Ismael must be abit nervous as we speak.
@Muzi (Comment 44) : Do you rate Barry? Never understood what all the hype was about. Would rather play Thys Smit at 15.
@Micky (Comment 45) : Craig Barry is not bad he looks good with ball in hand BUT i have a slight issue with his size.He is always breaking down.
I would have rather gone for Bulls Full Back Juan Nel,Free State full back Neil Marais both these two players are bigger,quick and safe options.
If i am not mistaken Thys is an inside centre he played 12 for free state.
Remember Mbovane is also an option he would walk in the backline he is a gem.
Last year we had a problem with our centre combo.
No one clicked with Francois Venter.moolman was just not good enough.
Our combo should have been Venter 12 taute 13 BUT he javo came late as a replacement.
If Howard has a blinder vandag then he will start with willa no doubt.
Lots of tough calls for Ooom Dawie to make and vbrendan venter.
@Muzi (Comment 46) : “No one clicked with Francois Venter”…. they had little option… he never passes!
Some good yougsters here, hope they live up to their potensial for a change and bring home the Cup
Look at fullback I’d play Neil Marais ahead of all these lads any day,for me he’s great on attack,not like Craig Barry,but he brings other attributes with like a good boot and solid under the high ball. He’s probably also a better defender than Craig,Barry tends to fade out when his team defends for long period. The thing is at schoolboy level things are a bit different to junior pro level. I would’ve played Barry any day at schoolboy level at the JWC,Neil Marais
Just heard from Allan that they won 31-29,was anyone at the game,keen to hear how things unfolded
@Ludz (Comment 50) : We are unfortunately at the mercy of the Province crowd.
I’m not holding out for anyone to have made the effort.
The Baby Boks tries were scored by Bulls outside centre William Small-Smith
, Botha, Willemse, and Bulls Under 19 lock Jaques Du Plessis 
Bulls Flyhalf Tony Jantjies
scored a penalty and converted the 4 tries.
Bax,Leyds,Bosman and Stewart scored the other tries for UCT.