THE Baby Boks should brace themselves for a hefty challenge when they take on Samoa on Tuesday at the Junior World Championships in New Zealand.
The South Africa under-20 side boasts one of the biggest forward packs at the tournament‚ alongside defending champions England.
After dominating the lighter Scotland and Baby Blacks forwards in their first two Pool C matches‚ the Baby Boks face their toughest physical battle against the bulky Pacific Islanders at the Ecolight Stadium in Pukekohe.
Coach Dawie Theron has made wholesale changes to the team that beat the Baby Blacks 33-24 on Friday‚ retaining only six players from the previous match.
Among the changes is tighthead prop Wilco Louw‚ who at 130kg and 1.85m is the biggest player in the Baby Boks pack; and on the other side of the front row there is loosehead Pierre Schoeman‚ at 116kg and 1.83m.
Locks JD Schickerling (2.02m and 108kg) and Nico Janse van Rensburg (2m and 109kg) are the tallest players and will be aiming to dominate the line-outs.
However‚ none of the big kids in the South Africa side comes even close to the hulking frame of the biggest man at the under-20 World Cup.
Simply put‚ Cameron Skelton‚ the Samoan lock‚ is a giant.
Standing at 2.05m and clocking the scales at a gargantuan 145kg‚ the 19-year-old is one of the biggest players in world rugby.
Alongside him in the second row is Manase Tuungafasi (125kg and 2.03m).
One cannot help but wonder what the boys in the Skelton family are fed. Cameron is the younger brother of 22-year-old Waratahs lock Will Skelton‚ at 137kg and 2.03m. They have a 13-year-old brother‚ Logan‚ who is expected to claim the heavyweight family title by the time he gets to his late teens.
In their front row‚ the Samoans have the twins Andrew and Anthony Lemula‚ whose heights and weights are identical at 120kg and 1.86m.
The heavyweights in the Samoan side are not only in the forwards pack. They have a halfback pair of scrumhalf Mark Tauai (105kg and 1.75m) and flyhalf Johan Fagasua (105kg and 1.70m) who could prove to be a handful for the South Africa defence.
Theron is wary of the danger that could be posed by the Samoans .
“They showed against New Zealand and Scotland they can be dangerous and we have prepared very well for this match. We want to make sure we qualify for the semifinals and will play our best team because this is now our most important match‚” he said.
“We have done our homework very thoroughly and will leave nothing to chance. This is a very tough tournament to compete in‚ so you have to be at your best in each match.”
A win for the Baby Boks will ensure they finish top of Pool C‚ to take a place in the semifinals‚ which take place on Sunday.
The top finishers in the three pools and the best runner-up go through to the play-offs.
South Africa is up against the biggest man in the tournament. Simply put‚ Samoan lock Cameron Skelton is a giant
Baby Boks face a weighty challenge against Samoans‚
The South Africa under-20 side boasts one of the biggest forward packs at the tournament‚ alongside defending champions England.
After dominating the lighter Scotland and Baby Blacks forwards in their first two Pool C matches‚ the Baby Boks face their toughest physical battle against the bulky Pacific Islanders at the Ecolight Stadium in Pukekohe.
Coach Dawie Theron has made wholesale changes to the team that beat the Baby Blacks 33-24 on Friday‚ retaining only six players from the previous match.
Among the changes is tighthead prop Wilco Louw‚ who at 130kg and 1.85m is the biggest player in the Baby Boks pack; and on the other side of the front row there is loosehead Pierre Schoeman‚ at 116kg and 1.83m.
Locks JD Schickerling (2.02m and 108kg) and Nico Janse van Rensburg (2m and 109kg) are the tallest players and will be aiming to dominate the line-outs.
However‚ none of the big kids in the South Africa side comes even close to the hulking frame of the biggest man at the under-20 World Cup.
Simply put‚ Cameron Skelton‚ the Samoan lock‚ is a giant.
Standing at 2.05m and clocking the scales at a gargantuan 145kg‚ the 19-year-old is one of the biggest players in world rugby.
Alongside him in the second row is Manase Tuungafasi (125kg and 2.03m).
One cannot help but wonder what the boys in the Skelton family are fed. Cameron is the younger brother of 22-year-old Waratahs lock Will Skelton‚ at 137kg and 2.03m. They have a 13-year-old brother‚ Logan‚ who is expected to claim the heavyweight family title by the time he gets to his late teens.
In their front row‚ the Samoans have the twins Andrew and Anthony Lemula‚ whose heights and weights are identical at 120kg and 1.86m.
The heavyweights in the Samoan side are not only in the forwards pack. They have a halfback pair of scrumhalf Mark Tauai (105kg and 1.75m) and flyhalf Johan Fagasua (105kg and 1.70m) who could prove to be a handful for the South Africa defence.
Theron is wary of the danger that could be posed by the Samoans .
“They showed against New Zealand and Scotland they can be dangerous and we have prepared very well for this match. We want to make sure we qualify for the semifinals and will play our best team because this is now our most important match‚” he said.
“We have done our homework very thoroughly and will leave nothing to chance. This is a very tough tournament to compete in‚ so you have to be at your best in each match.”
A win for the Baby Boks will ensure they finish top of Pool C‚ to take a place in the semifinals‚ which take place on Sunday.
The top finishers in the three pools and the best runner-up go through to the play-offs.
South Africa is up against the biggest man in the tournament. Simply put‚ Samoan lock Cameron Skelton is a giant
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