Five Junior Springboks set to take the U20 Rugby Championship by storm

Split-with-Junior-Springboks-JF-van-Heerden-Litelihle-Bester-and-Zachary-Porthen

The inaugural U20 Rugby Championship has finally arrived and is set to begin later this week on the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

Before the historic first edition of the tournament gets underway we take a closer look at five South Africans to keep an eye on.

Zachary Porthen

The prop has been named as captain of the Junior Springboks and, like all the players on this list, already represented the side in the 2022 U20 World Championship hosted in South Africa.

Porthen is contracted to Western Province and has everything required to be a successful modern prop with power in his scrummaging as well as mobility in the loose, which also aids in his carrying ability.

He has been a leader throughout having been head boy for Wynberg Boys High as well as captaining SA U18 in 2022 before leading Western Province U18 as well. It is a big tournament for the captain who will have to navigate his team through different levels of unknown.

JF van Heerden

The second-row is the furthest along from a developmental standpoint having been given a chance to prove his worth in the Bulls set-up where he earned massive praise from Jake White.

Van Heerden is a physical specimen with a work rate so typical of a big, bruising South African lock. His experience and obvious ability automatically make him a vital player for the Junior Springboks.

It could be a golden opportunity to prove his worth even more against his peers and show the higher-ups in SA Rugby that he is a walking Springboks prodigy.

Jurenzo Julius

It is hard to believe that Julius is still only 19. The Sharks man’s pace and physicality in the back-three threw him into lights last year during the U20 World Championship.

Julius, who is affectionately known as The Boogieman, weighs in at just short of 100kgs and has pace to burn, making him a very difficult player to get down. It would not be surprising to see the Junior Springbok right near the top of the list for defenders beaten at the end of the tournament.

The fact that he started in most of the games in last year’s global showpiece speaks volumes about his quality and he will need to take that experience and be a gamebreaker for the Baby Boks – a role he is well capable of.

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Litelihle Bester

A star centre who is contracted with the Sharks and has been touted as one of the emerging talents to keep an eye on, particularly given his experience for the Baby Boks last year.

Bester usually played at outside centre and is a master at running the right lines to threaten the opposition defence. He looks to be a physical player and has the pace to match. One gets the feeling that he can provide some serious X-factor to the side alongside Julius.

Asad Moos

The scrum-half who also featured for the Junior Springboks last year has been adding to his experience with the UCT Ikeys in South Africa’s Varsity Cup and played a key role in the team reaching the final this year.

The Western Province man is neat in his distribution while having that crucial ability to snipe and keep pillar defenders honest. He also looks to have a sound kicking game and with all that taken into account, he is going to be another important player for the South Africans.