Sauls: Baby Boks must 'stand up'

The Junior World Championships have rumbled forward into the semifinal stage and the four remaining teams prepare for the next must-win encounter.

The Baby Boks and the Baby Black do battle in the first semifinal, while Australia will take on England in the second match to determine who will be the 2010 finalists. Rugby365.com takes a closer look at the two semifinal line-ups...

New Zealand v South Africa

The traditional Springboks versus All Blacks rivalry will not be lost in this clash, as both outfits have players who have already played at a Super 14 level and don't fear the big stage.

New Zealand as a nation may be yet to lose a match in the history of the Junior World Championship, but Baby Blacks coach Dave Rennie is all too aware of the threat posed by South Africa's U20s ahead of their semifinal in Rosario.

"South Africa pose a lot more problems for us. Obviously they have a very big pack and they've got a lot of wheels in the backs so you know they've got the ability to play both those sorts of games," Rennie said.

"We won't stray too much from what we've been trying to do, if we can get some good go forward ball then hopefully we can stretch them a bit. You've got to front from a set piece point of view and they're a very good side in that regard."

South Africa made easy work of their Pool C matches against Tonga and Scotland but came out on the wrong end of an enthralling decider against Australia, losing 42-35 to qualify for the semifinals as the best placed runner up.

"We have to stand up, it was obviously disappointing after the defeat," Baby Boks coach Eric Sauls said.

"We had to pick up the boys. I think it was very intense, one of the great games, but we made too many mistakes, especially on defence and we have worked on that." 

Teams

New Zealand: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Star Timu, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal (Captain),  9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Rory Grice, 7 Sean Polwart, 6 Luke Whitelock, 5 Liaki Moli, 4 Blade Thomson, 3 Jeff Allen, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Angus Taavao-Matau.
Replacements: 16 Paul Ngauamo, 17 Willie Ioane Afuvai, 18 Thomas Franklin, 19 Matt Graham, 20 Kayne Hammington, 21 Hayden Parker, 22 Jason Woodward.

South Africa: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Branco du Preez, 11 Nico Scheepers, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 CJ Stander (Captain), 7 Fanie van der Walt, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Kene Okafor, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Brummer Badenhorst.
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Wessel du Rand, 19 Mlungisi Bali, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Adri Jacobs, 22 Nico Scheepers.

Date: Thursday, June 17
Venue: Rosario
Kick-off: 16.30 (19.30 GMT, 07.30 NZ, 21.30 SA)

Australia v England

The two nations have met only once before in Junior World Championship history, a pool decider in the inaugural tournament in 2008 when England came out on top 18-13 thanks to Miles Benjamin's last gasp winner in Newport.

Australia coach David Nucifora has made only one change to his side with Nicolas White returning at scrum half, having come on after only five minutes against the Baby Boks when Justin Turner injured his knee.

"England pose some similar threats to us as South Africa did. We are not the biggest and most physical team in this competition but we have to match up in those areas if we are going to be able to beat these teams," Nucifora said.

"We have just got to get ourselves up again for Thursday."

England, by contrast, have made six changes with coach Mark Mapletoft recalling captain Jacob Rowan and speedster Christian Wade after both were rested for the Pool B decider with France. Tom Homer, the all-time JWC leading point scorer, returns at fullback with the impressive Freddie Burns dropping to the bench.

"They [Australia] look very good, I must admit," Mapletoft said.

"They were very impressive in their three pool games I thought, particularly against South Africa. It was a great game to watch, a lot of tries. But we'll be preparing to win the game, naturally, and hopefully we can be a bit more forceful in defence while still challenging them with the ball in hand.

Teams

Australia: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Dominic Shipperley, 13 Kimami Sitauti, 12 Robbie Coleman, 11 Aidan Toua, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nicholas White, 8 Jake Schatz (Captain), 7 Liam Gill, 6 Edward Quirk, 5 Gregory Peterson, 4 Phoenix Battye, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Siliva Siliva, 1 Salesi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Samuel Robertson, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Luke Jones, 19 Lachlan McCaffrey, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Jonathon Lance, 22 Gregory Jeloudev.

England: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrew Forsyth, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacob Rowan (Captain), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Calum Green, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Arthur Ellis, 17 Lee Imiolek, 18 George Kruis, 19 Will Welch, 20 Sam Harrison, 21 Freddie Burns, 22 Jonny May.

Date: Thursday, June 17
Venue: Rosario
Kick-off: 14.10 (17.10 GMT, 18.10 UK, 23.10 Aus)

With thanks to the IRB