Cape Town - Salmaan Moerat will start at lock against England in the World Rugby U-20 Championship semi-final on Tuesday in the only change to Junior Springboks coach Chean Roux’s starting team that defeated Argentina last Thursday.
Moerat replaces Hendre Stassen, who is nursing a knee injury, and he will pair up with Ruben van Heerden in the engine room.
There are two changes among the replacements with prop Lee-Marvin Mazibuko replacing Wikus Groenewald, who has the flu, while Reinhard Nothnagel will provide back-up for Moerat and Van Heerden.
"We looked at England’s strengths and we think these are the best combinations for us for the semi-final," Roux said about his team selection.
Roux said he is expecting a physical onslaught from England, who are the defending champions, but added his team’s focus was on delivering a quality performance to advance to the final.
England defeated Ireland 45-21 in the Final of the 2016 edition of the tournament in Manchester to win the competition.
"This is a big game for us," said Roux.
"England are a physical side and they are full of confidence. They are the defending champions as well. But that said, our plans are in place as a team and we just need to go out there and execute it."
The semi-final will be hosted at the M. Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi at 16:00 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1 (Channel 201). New Zealand will face France in the second semi-final, which starts at 18:30 (SA time).
Junior Springboks:
15 Manie Libbok, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Gianni Lombard, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 6 Len Massyn, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Kwenzo Blose
Substitutes: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Daniel Jooste, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Muller Uys, 21 Francois de Villiers, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Jeanluc Cilliers