JWC: Not looking at England's last result - Theron

JWC: Not looking at England's last result - Theron
South Africa U20 coach Dawie Theron has discounted England’s loss to France ahead of the U20 World Championship semi-final between the two sides on Monday.

A re-match of the 2014 final sees the Junior Boks, who are the top seeds after winning all three of their pool games with bonus points, looking for revenge over last year’s champions.

Theron has tinkered only slightly with his XV, bringing in Rikus Bothma into the back-row at number six.

He and his coaching staff have placed a huge emphasis on managing the squad’s conditioning throughout the tournament in Italy, with Theron happy with their fitness going into Monday’s game in Calvisano.

“We know this tournament is a marathon and not a sprinting race and we therefore have to be sensible with our player management process. All the players are fit and in good shape and now they must go out and do the business,” Theron said.

“We are not looking at England’s previous result (they lost to France in their final pool match). They are in the semi-finals and will be looking to play in a third successive final. We know they will be highly motivated and will definitely have a good plan against us.”

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