When it rains, it pours. And, no, I’m not really talking about the weather even though there has been plenty of that (and snow!). Rather it’s the fact that South Africa is hosting yet another international rugby tournament.
Just six weeks after South Africa’s Baby Boks brought an end to New Zealand’s dominance of the IRB Junior World Championship by winning the tournament at a sold-out Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, the final two fixtures of the Under-18 International Series will be hosted in the Mother City this weekend. This tournament sees South Africa’s best schoolboy rugby players competing against their counterparts from England,Wales and France. The matches will be played at the Huguenot High School in Wellington, Outeniqua Park in George and the University of the Western Cape.
Just a week later, the big guns will be strutting their stuff at the newly revamped Four Nations where the Springboks will tackle Argentina.
And its thanks to all the junior programmes and tournaments like the U18 International Series which are seeing so much raw talent coming through the ranks. This includes Siya Kolisi, the Stormers’ openside flanker, The 21-year-old, who represented the SA under-20 team in 2011, rose to prominence in February when he replaced injured flank Schalk Burger during the Super 15 tournament. As he embarks on this new role, Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has made no secret that he is looking to the youth for his 2015 World Cup campaign. Fortunately, the depth is bottomless.
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