South Africa 'A', also formerly known as the Junior Springboks or the Emerging Springboks, are the second national
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
team representing
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, below the
senior national team, the Springboks.
[ ] Until 2018, it was also under the
South Africa Under-20 team in the country's rugby hierarchy, but
World Rugby
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
changed its regulations to prohibit unions from designating an under-20 team as its second 15-a-side team.
They competed in the
Nations Cup in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...
alongside the full national teams of
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
as well as
Argentina Jaguars and
Italy A. They also sporadically play touring sides such as the
British and Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
.
The team is made up of players of all ages and is not a youth side. The selection criteria vary, and it has been used most recently to give potential Springboks a taste of international rugby or to give experienced Springboks playing time to improve fitness or form.
Current squad
South Africa A squad to face the
British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...
as part of the
2021 tour and the
Bulls
Bulls may refer to:
*The plural of bull, an adult male bovine
*Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District
Sports
* Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding
*Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...
as a warm-up match.
See also
*
South African Barbarians
South African Barbarians is an invitational rugby union club styled along the lines of Barbarian F.C. It was formed in 1960 by Frank Mellish, the former 1951–52 Springbok selector and manager, together with former Natal Rugby Union President, ...
*
South Africa President's XV
The South Africa President's XV is a South African rugby union team that represented South Africa in the 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup. They won the tournament, winning all three matches, but did not take part in the 2014 edition.
Previously, an Emerging ...
References
{{Nations Cup
South Africa national rugby union team
Second national rugby union teams