Argentina – The Junior Springboks had their first team session on Saturday morning in Rosario after arriving in Argentina from South Africa late on Friday evening.
After completing a 28-hour travel haul from Cape Town to their hotel in Rosario in Santa Fe, Argentina, the players participated in a recovery session at their team hotel.
Over the next few days the South African and Argentina Under-20 teams will meet in two matches, on May 12 and 16, as part of their final preparations for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship which Italy will host in June. All training sessions are at the Club Universitario de Rosario.
Dawie Theron, the Junior Springbok coach, will on Monday confirm his match 23 for the first encounter against the Los Pumitas.
Theron guided the Junior Boks to their maiden world championship title in 2012 and last year his team fell short by a single point in a pulsating final against defending champions England at Eden Park in New Zealand.
The young South Africans have been in training camp since the beginning of April, playing in three training matches before their departure to South America. Two of those were against the Western Province Rugby Institute and the other a thrilling win against a powerful Varsity Cup Dream Team in Stellenbosch.
According to Theron, the objective of the 10-day Argentine tour is to test his game plan against a very good opponent and to give his players a taste of “a real tournament-like environment.”
The SA Under-20 coach explained: “Our plan is to simulate our U20 World Championship activities as much as possible over the next 10 days. The U20 World Championship is a demanding tournament with a short turnaround of just three or four days between matches. Our games against the Argentines are four days apart and our team logistics and activities will replicate our tournament activities in Italy,” said Theron. – ANA