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Roux happy with Junior Boks gathering

Newly appointed Junior Springbok coach Chean Roux had his first work out with the extended squad on Monday and he was happy with what he saw despite absences due to Super Rugby and Varsity Cup commitments.

Curwin Bosch and Benhard Janse van Rensburg are on Super Rugby duty with the Sharks‚ while Zain Davids and Stedman Gans are in North America with the Blitzboks‚ where they won the HSBC Las Vegas Sevens in the early hours of Monday morning (SA time).

Wikus Groenewald‚ Kwenzo Blose‚ Abram Venter‚ Ernst van Rhyn‚ Reinhard Nothnagel‚ Eduan Lubbe‚ Len Massyn‚ Manie Libbok‚ Wandisile Simelane‚ Manuel Rass and Gianni Lombard‚ meanwhile‚ will join the squad on Tuesday due to Varsity Cup commitments.

The various Varsity Cup players will return to their teams again on Thursday afternoon‚ while the two Super Rugby players will remain with the Sharks for the duration of the camp.

Roux was pleased to get the preparations for the World Rugby U20 Championships underway and said the focus this week would be on assessing the players and putting their structures in place for the international spectacle.

“We had a great start to the camp‚” said Roux.

“We pushed the players hard at training and they have reacted positively‚ which is very pleasing.

“The main objective at this camp is to assess the state of the players physically and mentally because this is the first time we work with some of them.

"We need to lay the foundation now so that the players can improve in the required areas as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile‚ the venues and times for the team’s warm-up matches on their tour to the central unions from March 26 to April 9 were confirmed on Monday.

They will face the Griffons at the HT Pelatona Projects stadium in Welkom at 15h00 on March 31‚ Griquas in Kimberley at 18h00 on April 5‚ and the Free State Cheetahs at 15h00 at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein on April 8.

The Junior Springboks will play two further warm-up matches‚ against the Varsity Cup Dream Team on April 25‚ and Western Province on May 9‚ in Stellenbosch during their third training camp‚ which runs from April 18 to May 12.

They will conclude their preparations for the tournament with a holding camp in Stellenbosch from May 21 to 25. - TMG Digital

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