Junior Boks Resume Preparations In Stellenbosch

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The Junior Springboks resumed their preparations for the World Rugby U20 Championship after a well-deserved break, with the training squad gathering in Stellenbosch for their third training camp on Tuesday. The camp will run until 18 May.

Junior Springbok coach Chean Roux said this camp would be vital in terms of fine-tuning their structures and getting the players ready mentally and physically for the international spectacle.

The Junior Springboks switched back into training mode on Tuesday with a gym session and will return to full training on Wednesday with an eye on preparing for their warm-up match against the Varsity Cup Dream Team at the Danie Craven Stadium at 19h00 on Monday, 25 April.

“The time off was good for the players because it allowed them to switch off and return to camp fresh and ready to work hard,” said Roux.

“One could see the energy among the players as they arrived in Stellenbosch this morning, so we are excited to get back onto the field and resume our preparations.

“We made good progress as a group at the first two camps, both at training and in our warm-up games, and I believe everyone now knows what is expected of them with six weeks left before our opening match at the U20 Championship against France.”

Roux said while they would zone in on all the areas of their game in the next few weeks, the set pieces would receive significant attention after having had limited time to work on that aspect of their game up to now.

“I thought we did well in the set pieces in the matches against the Griffons, Griquas and Cheetahs at our second camp even though we did not have much time to focus on our set pieces,” said Roux.

“We will, however, have the chance to do so at this camp.

“That said, we need to be as well prepared as possible in all areas of our game to compete against the best teams in the world in Georgia, and we plan to leave no stone unturned to achieve that.”

Roux will name the final 28-man squad to travel to Georgia in the first week of May.

The Stellenbosch camp will be followed by the U20 Championship holding camp in Stellenbosch from 21 May, with the team set to depart for Georgia on 25 May. The SA U20’s will face France, Georgia and Argentina in the pool stages of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 31 May, 4 June and 8 June respectively.