Papier joins Junior Boks
Papier, who was a member of the SA Schools squad that featured in the International U18 Series in 2015 and 2014 and played for the Blue Bulls in the provincial U19 competition last season, will be in contention for selection with other scrumhalves Marco Jansen van Vuren and James Hall, who is currently playing Super Rugby for the Kings.
“We are delighted to welcome Embrose to the provisional training squad and we are excited to see what he has to offer,” said Junior Bok chief Dawie Theron.
“He proved himself as a talented player for the SA Schools squad in 2014 and 2015 and he also featured in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week in the last two years.
“He will have to work hard in the next few days to familiarise himself with our structures, but he is a quality player and we believe he would be able to slot into the squad with ease.”
Theron also had to deal with unfortunate news on Tuesday, as lock Rhyno Herbst had to be hospitalised in Johannesburg following an attack over the weekend in which he was stabbed.
A decision will be made in the next few weeks about his availability for the competition.
Theron will name his 28-man squad for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship on Tuesday, May 10.
The team will face the Golden Lions U19 and U21 teams in Johannesburg on May 13 in their first warm-up match, which will be followed by clashes against Maties in Stellenbosch on May 17 and the SWD Eagles in Oudtshoorn on May 21, with the team set to depart for the international showpiece on June 2.
Junior Springboks pool fixtures, World Rugby U20 Championship (SA Time):
Tuesday, June 7: 16.15 – South Africa v Japan (Academy Stadium)
Saturday, June 11: 19.00 – South Africa v Argentina (AJ Bell Stadium)
Wednesday, June 15: 20.45 – South Africa v France (Academy Stadium)
