Salmaan Moerat will start at lock against England in the only change to the Junior Springbok starting team for Tuesday’s World Rugby Under-20 Championship semi-final.
Moerat replaces Hendré Stassen, who is nursing a knee injury, and he will pair up with Ruben van Heerden in the engine room.
There are also two changes among the replacements from the team that beat Argentina last Thursday, with prop Lee-Marvin Mazibuko replacing Wikus Groenewald, who has the flu, while Reinhard Nothnagel will provide back-up for Moerat and Van Heerden.
“We looked at England’s strengths and we think these are the best combinations for us for the semi-final,” coach Chean Roux said about his team selection.
Roux said he is expecting a physical onslaught from England, who are the defending champions, but added his team’s focus was on delivering a quality performance to advance to the final.
England defeated Ireland 45-21 in last year’s final in Manchester to win the competition.
“This is a big game for us,” said Roux.
“England are a physical side and they are full of confidence. They are the defending champions as well. But that said, our plans are in place as a team, and we just need to go out there and execute it.”
The semi-final will be hosted at the M. Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi at 4pm (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1 (Channel 201).
New Zealand will face France in the second semi-final, which starts at 6.30pm (SA time).
Junior Springbok Team
15 Manie Libbok, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Gianni Lombard, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 6 Len Massyn, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Bench:16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Daniel Jooste, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Muller Uys, 21 Francois de Villiers, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Jeanluc Cilliers.