A massive clash sees the Junior Springboks take on England in the semifinals of the World Rugby U20 Championship in Manchester, England, tonight.
Former Border Schools’ star player Tango Balekile is one of six changes made to the starting team as he returns to action after playing the last match off the bench.
“As a little boy you live for moments like these, its not every day that you can say you have been in a world cup semifinal, so it is a great honour, and I will enjoy it,” said Balekile.
“To put the Springbok jersey over your chest you strive to be the best, so if we can take it all the way, will be great for ourselves and the country as a whole.”
Balekile started the first two games against Japan and Argentina, before playing the last against France off the bench. He will be aiming to make a big impact in the starting mix again.
“Training has been going well for me, and I am looking forward to the match,” Balekile said.
“There will always be room for improvement but I am happy with how the team has been doing.
“We will just be taking this next game as it comes and keep working towards that final place.”
Against France it was do or die for the Baby Boks and they responded superbly with their bonus-point win allowing them to get into the semis ahead of both New Zealand and Australia.
“It was a great win for the team and it’s good to start picking up momentum again at this crucial stage,” he explained.
“We backed ourselves and backed our strengths, it was a situation where we knew we had to get maximum points against France and we analysed the other teams and predicted that it would go in our favour.”
The semifinal will be a massive contest against the hosts in Manchester and South Africa will need to be in superb form if they are to come away with a win against the unbeaten England team.
The other changes in the team see a whole new front row as props Nicolaas Oosthuizen and Jaco Holtzhausen join Balekile, while vice-captain Ernst van Rhyn is back in place of Cobus Wiese.
Wing Mosolwa Mafuma and scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren have also come into the side with most of the changes due to injury.
The match kicks off tonight at 8:45pm and will be televised live on SuperSport.
SAU20: Curwin Bosch, Mosolwa Mafuma, Jeremy Ward (capt), JT Jackson, Edwill van der Merwe, Manie Libbok, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Junior Pokomela, Ernst van Rhyn, Zain Davids, Eli Snyman, Ruben de Villiers, Jaco Holtzhausen, Tango Balekile, Nicolaas Oosthuizen. Replacements: Jan-Henning Campher, Franco van den Berg, Carlu Sadie, Eduard Zandberg, Cobus Wiese, James Hall, Franco Naude, Keanu Vers.
SAU20 ready for semifinal clash
Former Border Schools’ star player Tango Balekile is one of six changes made to the starting team as he returns to action after playing the last match off the bench.
“As a little boy you live for moments like these, its not every day that you can say you have been in a world cup semifinal, so it is a great honour, and I will enjoy it,” said Balekile.
“To put the Springbok jersey over your chest you strive to be the best, so if we can take it all the way, will be great for ourselves and the country as a whole.”
Balekile started the first two games against Japan and Argentina, before playing the last against France off the bench. He will be aiming to make a big impact in the starting mix again.
“Training has been going well for me, and I am looking forward to the match,” Balekile said.
“There will always be room for improvement but I am happy with how the team has been doing.
“We will just be taking this next game as it comes and keep working towards that final place.”
Against France it was do or die for the Baby Boks and they responded superbly with their bonus-point win allowing them to get into the semis ahead of both New Zealand and Australia.
“It was a great win for the team and it’s good to start picking up momentum again at this crucial stage,” he explained.
“We backed ourselves and backed our strengths, it was a situation where we knew we had to get maximum points against France and we analysed the other teams and predicted that it would go in our favour.”
The semifinal will be a massive contest against the hosts in Manchester and South Africa will need to be in superb form if they are to come away with a win against the unbeaten England team.
The other changes in the team see a whole new front row as props Nicolaas Oosthuizen and Jaco Holtzhausen join Balekile, while vice-captain Ernst van Rhyn is back in place of Cobus Wiese.
Wing Mosolwa Mafuma and scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren have also come into the side with most of the changes due to injury.
The match kicks off tonight at 8:45pm and will be televised live on SuperSport.
SAU20: Curwin Bosch, Mosolwa Mafuma, Jeremy Ward (capt), JT Jackson, Edwill van der Merwe, Manie Libbok, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Junior Pokomela, Ernst van Rhyn, Zain Davids, Eli Snyman, Ruben de Villiers, Jaco Holtzhausen, Tango Balekile, Nicolaas Oosthuizen. Replacements: Jan-Henning Campher, Franco van den Berg, Carlu Sadie, Eduard Zandberg, Cobus Wiese, James Hall, Franco Naude, Keanu Vers.
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