The Blitzboks will unveil the next player from their impressive Academy production line in Sydney this weekend when JC Pretorius makes his World Series debut.

Coach Neil Powell has compared the 21-year-old Pretorius in terms of stature and attitude to former Blitzboks star Kwagga Smith.

Given that Powell’s team struggled physically last weekend‚ beefing up in that department was a logical step for a coach trying to rebuild a team.

Pretorius‚ who will play as a hooker in his first tournament for South Africa‚ travelled to Australasia with the team as official reserve and did not get a run in Hamilton last weekend‚ where the Blitzboks placed fourth at the New Zealand Sevens.

“JC is from the same part of the world as Kwagga [Middleburg‚ Mpumulanga] and he is a very Kwagga-like player‚” Powell said.

“He could surprise people with his physicality because he is the same size as Kwagga and exactly the same player.

“He has the same mentality – he is good on the ground‚ nice and physical in tackles and he even steps like Kwagga. He is a copy and paste of Kwagga.

“Everyone raved about him at Craven Week a few years ago where he played No 6 flank. But this being SA he was seen as too small for fifteens.”

Powell tweaked his squad for the Australia leg‚ to be played in Spotless Stadium at Olympic Park this weekend‚ with Pretorius taking over from Kyle Brown in the forwards.

“It is all part of our plan to give the younger players more opportunities as we are expanding the depth and experience in our squad‚” said Powell.

“Senior guys in the team‚ such as Kyle and Philip Snyman‚ will not be around forever and JC needs this opportunity to develop.

“This is a great opportunity for him. If we named him 13th player again and we had no injuries‚ it would have been an opportunity wasted to give him the exposure and experience of tournament play.”

Brown was due to move past Frankie Horne as South Africa’s most experienced Blitzbok ever‚ as both have played 68 times in the World Series. But he has been named as the reserve this week.

“We realised that and it did make the selection a tough and unfortunate one‚ but we must do what is best for the team. Kyle could still get that chance as he is the official reserve and will be on the field if we pick up any injuries‚” said Powell.

Debuts and potential records aside‚ the coach had his mind pretty much focussed on a better defensive effort from last weekend. Powell also wants more control when in possession.

“We got our roles on defence mixed up and the one-on-one tackles were not good‚” Powell said.

“To concede 13 tries on the second day was just not good enough. We have gone through tournaments where we did not even concede that much on both days combined. We worked hard to fix that.

“We played our best sevens at times in Hamilton when we controlled our possession and we want to improve even more in that area.”

For Pretorius‚ who celebrated his 21st birthday in Sydney earlier in the week‚ it is a dream come true. He hails from the same school as Smith (HTS Middelburg‚ Mpumalanga) and hopes to make a similar impact as his schoolboy hero did.

“We are from the same school‚ play in the same position and I was always trying to play the way he does by bringing a huge work-rate to the game‚” said Pretorius.

“I can never be Kwagga‚ only JC‚ but there is nothing wrong by trying to emulate him. I have always been a hard worker and I hope to bring that work-rate and energy to the team this weekend.”

- TMG Digital.