EP talent recognised

TWO EP Kings players – Aidon Davis and Sergeal Petersen – have been included in the South Africa under-20 starting lineup to face Argentina at the Saldanha Bay Rugby Club on the West Coast today.

This is the first of three international friendly matches in the Western Cape for the Baby Boks against Argentine tourists.

On Tuesday, the two sides will meet again at the Paul Roos Markötter Stadium in Stellenbosch and the final clash is scheduled for the following Saturday (May 10) at City Park in Crawford, Cape Town.

Dawie Theron, coach of the SA U20, said the matches would give him the ideal opportunity to test the depth of the squad. In addition, the squad would be able to simulate their Junior World Championship (JWC) logistics plan for their three pools matches in New Zealand, in similar tournament- like circumstances.

"We have scheduled the three matches on exactly the same dates as our JWC pool matches (Scotland on June 2, New Zealand on June 6 and Samoa on June 10).

"The reasoning behind that is so that we can simulate out logistics, training and recovery schedule exactly along the timeframes of our JWC schedule," Theron said.

"Argentina is a side that regularly features in the top four or five at the Junior World Championship, so we will be up against quality opposition."

The Junior Springbok line-up is: Pierre Schoeman (Blue Bulls), Corniel Els (Blue Bulls), Wilco Louw (Blue Bulls), JD Schickerling (Western Province), Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (Blue Bulls), Ramone Samuels (Golden Lions), Jean Luc du Preez (Sharks), Aidon Davis (EP Kings), Zee Mkhabela (Free State Cheetahs), Jaco van der Walt (Golden Lions), Duhan van der Merwe (Blue Bulls), Daniel du Plessis ( Western Province), Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Blue Bulls), Sergeal Petersen (EP Kings), Warrick Gelant (Blue Bulls). The replacements will be selected from the remaining training squad members. - George Byron