The South Africa Under-20 side will begin preparations for the IRB Junior World Championships this year with a series of matches against Maties, UCT and UWC.

Coach Dawie Theron's Junior Springbok squad will lock horns with the three Cape Universities in a training camp to be held from January 14-27 as they begin preparations for the defence of their title in France later this year.

Theron has named 34 players for the training camp which will see them take on Varsity Cup giants Maties and UCT along with Varsity Shield contenders UWC.

"This is a very important camp for us," Theron said.

"We need to settle on a squad and this will be another opportunity for us to do so. There are a lot of boxes that we will have to tick in the two weeks of the camp to make sure we are on track.

"The trials should confirm our selections and the training matches will give us a better idea of the various combinations available to us. We will also have to settle on our game plan once we have a clear understanding of our playing personnel," he added.

Theron's side will meet UWC on 18 January, Maties on 23 January and UCT on 26 January. The friendlies will be played in Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

SA Under-20 training squad: Cheslin Kolbe, Tim Swiel, Seabelo Senatla, Luther Obi, Sylvian Mahuza, Jan Serfontein, Dries Swanepoel, Justin Gedult, JP Lewis, Tyler Fisher, Handrè Pollard, Robert du Preez, Kirshwin Williams, Hanco Venter, Stefan Ungerer, Leneve Dames, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp, Albertus Smit, Jurie van Vuuren, Dennis Visser, Irnè Herbst, Jacques du Plessis, Marvin Orie, Justin Forwood, Andrew Beerwinkel, Neethling Fouchè, Luan de Bruin, Marnè Coetzee, Sti Sithole, Jacques du Toit, Devon Martinus, Mornè du Plessis, Freddie Kirsten.