Five Lion Cubs in SA Under 20 squad
2019-10-14
Five Lion Cubs have been included in the South African Under 20 squad to tour Tbilisi, Georgia, from Wednesday, 27 November, to Thursday, 5 December, as part of the team’s preparations for the 2020 season.
Last year’s SA Schools captain Adrian Alberts as well as his understudy Muzi Manyike are part of the 30 member squad.
SA Under 20 flanker Sibusiso Sangweni, promising hooker Morné Brandon and prop forward Benele Mthenjane are the other Lions in the group.
The tour will feature matches against the Georgia Under-19 team on Monday, 2 December, and Thursday, 5 December.
Sangweni, Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf), Emile van Heerden (lock), Celimpilo Gumede (looseforward), Zwelendaba Mnombo (centre) and Thabiso Mdletshe (prop) are the six players who represented the Junior Springboks in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Rosario, Argentina, earlier this year.
The squad includes another 11 players who were members of the SA Schools team that participated in the 2018 Under-18 International Series in the Western Cape against Wales, France and England.
They are Alberts (lock) and Manyike (centre), Stravino Jacobs (winger), Dewald Donald (prop), Hanro Jacobs (prop), Lunga Ncube (lock), Evan Roos (looseforward), Rynhardt Jonker (centre), JJ Kotze (hooker), Juan Mostert (flyhalf) and Thomas Bursey (scrumhalf).
SA Under 19: Cohen Jasper (Free State), Stravino Jacobs (Blue Bulls), Keenan Twigg (Luiperds), Diego Appollis (Blue Bulls), Rynhardt Jonker (Sharks), Muzi Manyike (Lions), Dawid Kellerman (Blue Bulls), Zwelendaba Mnombo (WP), Ethan Wentzel (Valke), Juan Mostert (WP), Thomas Bursey (WP), Bernard van der Linde (Blue Bulls), Jaden Hendrikse (Sharks), Evan Roos (Sharks), Celimpilo Gumede (Sharks), Sibusiso Sangweni (Lions), Thabo Ndimande (Valke), Adrian Alberts (Lions), Emile van Heerden (Sharks), Lunga Ncube (Sharks), Werner Gouws (Blue Bulls), Werner Coetzee (Sharks), Benele Mthenjane (Lions), Thabiso Mdletshe (Sharks), Siphekahle Dube (Sharks), Hanro Jacobs (Sharks), Dewald Donald (Blue Bulls), JJ Kotze (WP), Morné Brandon (Lions), Jason Alexander (WP).
Photo: Muzi Manyike
Annemie Bester