Pead, Cupido back as Junior Springboks make key changes for U20 clash with New Zealand

Only five members of the Junior Springbok squad that lost against Australia in the Under-20 Rugby Championship have been retained for Sunday’s massive clash against New Zealand at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha (4.10pm kickoff).

Junior Bok coach Kevin Foote continued the trend of making wholesale changes to his side in the tournament as the hosts push for a strong finish. 

The South Africans had started off with a come-from-behind win over Argentina, before falling short against the resurgent Junior Wallabies on Tuesday afternoon.

Foote has included five players from the side that faced Australia for their clash against New Zealand.

In the pack, loosehead prop Simphiwe Ngobese, lock and captain Riley Norton and No 8 Wandile Mlaba are retained from the side that fell just short against Australia.

Vusi Moyo, who gave a strong performance against the Aussies, retains the flyhalf berth, while exciting attacker Cheswill Jooste will run out at right wing as the only backs starting again.

Norton, Mlaba and Jooste will start their third successive games in the competition.

The Junior Boks had a robust review of their match against Australia, and have worked hard on those aspects of their game they have identified for improvement.

They had trouble in the set-piece in the first half against Argentina, but were largely improved in that facet of play against the Wallabies.

The breakdown was a source of frustration for Foote, however.

With the number of changes made, the Junior Springbok coach risks fixing one area of concern while opening up others.

Players need time to build partnerships on the field, and the chopping and changing of players makes that difficult.

The New Zealand U20 side have proven expert at exploiting any weakness in the opposition ranks, as they showed with their thrashing of Argentina in their last match.

If the Junior Boks don’t gel from the opening whistle, it could be a long afternoon for the home side.

Foote feels that his players will be up for the challenge against South Africa’s biggest rugby rivals in front of what promises to be a big crowd at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

“Obviously we were bitterly disappointed with not winning the Australian game, but there were some great learnings for us in preparation for the World Championship,” said Foote.

“I thought that our set-piece took a big step forward, and we controlled a lot of the game for a period, but there are aspects for us to work on, in particular our breakdown.

“We got turned over too often while some of the kicking patterns were out of character, which we look to fix and get some clarity around that.”

From an attacking perspective, the return of scrumhalf Haashim Pead, who scored two tries against Los Pumitas, and fellow scorer Gino Cupido on the left wing, will be welcome.

Cupido enjoyed a fine cameo off the bench, sparking the attack into life later on against the Australian side.

Pead will be itching to show his pedigree once again, having been left out of the squad altogether. 

“We’re bringing some players back from the first game, while retaining some guys who played in the second game. That will bring some freshness to the match-23, and there is real excitement in the squad for our match on Sunday,” Foote explained.

“We believe we have a good and confident team, and all the players have put in a massive effort during the last two-and-a-half weeks.

“We want to finish strong in front of our home crowd on Mother’s Day, making our mothers proud and celebrating all the moms in the country.”

Sunday’s encounter with New Zealand is the last fixture of the U20 Rugby Championship. Argentina and Australia will clash at 2pm.