Mnebelele takes South Africa U20s armband as Norton and Moyo chase senior Springbok debuts

Hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele will captain South Africa’s U20 side at the World Rugby Junior World Championship in Tbilisi after predecessor Riley Norton was named in Rassie Erasmus’ Nations Championship squad, alongside Sharks fly-half Vusi Moyo, ahead of the tournament in Georgia.

Norton, who skippered South Africa to the Junior World Championship title last year, and Moyo were originally set to feature in this year’s edition before their surprise senior call-ups. Their elevation has left a leadership void that Mnebelele, who recently appeared for South Africa A against Zimbabwe, has stepped in to fill.

The new captain says the rapid rise of his former teammates has set a standard he wants his squad to chase. “What Riley and Vusi have achieved as a team and individuals, you obviously want to achieve the same thing but you know how much work you’ve got to put into it because we’ve trained with them,” Mnebelele said. “I’m pretty close with them and just looking at how they have carried themselves over the last two years makes their call-up very deserved.”

The pathway from U20 rugby to the Springboks is well-established. Handré Pollard made his senior Test debut less than a fortnight after helping South Africa reach the 2014 Junior World Championship final, and teammates from that squad — including Thomas du Toit, Jesse Kriel and Andre Esterhuizen — followed similar routes.

South Africa open their title defence against Uruguay before facing hosts Georgia and Wales in the pool stage. Mnebelele is under no illusions about the size of the task, but insists the defending champions will not be paralysed by expectation.

“The boys put in some proper hard yards back in South Africa during our training and we’ve got a lot of nations who are here to compete for the No.1 spot,” he said. “There are a lot of nations who are very good at rugby, so it’s going to be a big challenge, but we’re really excited and pleased to be a part of this tournament.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it puts pressure on us, but we have to compete and we’re going to compete as best we can.”

Georgia’s Junior Lelos have already made headlines at the tournament, defeating the New Zealand Junior All Blacks 22-19 at the Kharebi Arena in Rustavi — the first time Georgia’s U20 side has beaten their New Zealand counterparts.