Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron made his first move in defending the Junior World Championships title his side won in June by naming an extended training squad for the 2013 IRB tournament in France.

Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province players provide the bulk of the squad, having dominated the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship this year, with the WP U19s beating their Bulls counterparts in a dramatic final in Durban just under two weeks ago.

In all, ten DHL WP juniors have made the squad – including 646-562 WP Under-19 captain Freddie Kirsten and flyhalf Tim Swiel who played for the WP Under-21 side this year.

The other WP players in the selection mix at present are: Cheslin Kolbe (who also played for the WP U21s and trained with the national Sevens side), Justin Geduld, JP Lewis, Jean Nel, Justin Benn (pictured), Jurie van Vuuren, Andrew Becker and Sti Sithole.

“It is still early days, but I am very excited about this squad,” said Theron.

“This will be a first step towards France in June and a 646-562 lot can happen before then, but it will be good to get the squad together and start moulding them.

“We will no doubt look at those things that worked for us this year and look at how that compliments the strengths of this new group. The camp will be exciting as we’ll get new energy and ideas as well as lot of new faces.”

Trials will form part of the training camp, Theron concluded: “A lot of these players played to a particular structure in the last couple of months and it will be interesting to see how they react to new structures and playing partners.”

The training squad is:

Fullbacks: Jacques Rossouw (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Sean Robinson (KZN), Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Western Province).

Wings: Ruwellyn Isbell (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Seabelo Sanata (Toyota Free State), Kotaro Matsushima (KZN), Sylvian Mahuza (Leopards), JP Lewis (DHL WP).

Centres: Jan Serfontein (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Jade Stighling (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Burger Odendaal (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Harold Verster (MTN Golden Lions), Tyler Fisher (KZN), Henko Marais (Leopards),Justin Geduld (DHL WP).

Flyhalves: Francois Tredoux (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Robert du Preez (KZN), Tim Swiel (DHL WP).

Scrumhalves: Carlo Engelbrecht (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Kefentse Mahlo (Vodacom Blue Bulls), KK Hlungwane (Toyota Free State), Percy Williams (MTN Golden Lions), Hanco Venter (KZN), Stefan Ungerer (KZN), Jean Nel (DHL WP).

Loose forwards: Clyde Davids (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Jacques du Plessis (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Leneve Damens (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Roelof Smit (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Ruan Steenkamp (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Tienie Burger (Toyota Free State), Kwagga Smit (MTN Golden Lions), Andrew van Tonder (KZN), Justin Benn (DHL WP), Jurie van Vuuren (DHL WP).

Locks: Dennis Visser (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Irne Herbst (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Marvin Orie (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Myles Tucker (KZN), Andrew Becker (DHL WP).

Props: Andrew Beerwinkel (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Jan Enslin (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Justin Forwood (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Neethling Fouche (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Luan de Bruin (Toyota Free State), Marne Coetzee (KZN), Sti Sithole (DHL WP).

Hookers: Jacques du Toit (Toyota Free State), Morne du Plessis (KZN), Freddie Kirsten (DHL WP).