The global governing body of the sport made the announcement on Wednesday due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

It will be the second year in a row that the tournament has been called due to the pandemic.

The former SA Schools captain who made his Currie Cup debut this past season was tipped to be selected for the squad, and he could have even led the team to the Junior World Cup.

With the likes of Cronjé, Kade Wolhuter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, but to name a few, the class of 2021 would have been one of the finest to date and could have challenged for that elusive second title.

Cronjé told OFM Sport that the news is disappointing, but they cannot dwell on it.

“It is a big disappointment. I think that everybody was eager to play. At the end of the day, it's not going to happen.

“Everyone must make sacrifices and this being World Rugby deciding that this is the sacrifice that they are going to make.

“It wasn’t meant to be this year, so hopefully next year the guys can get to play. It would have been a privilege to be in that team but we can’t do anything about the fact that Covid is around.

“Everyone that would have played or would have been chosen for that team must stay positive, keep on going and just give it their all every day.

“We need to be the best rugby players that we can be, both on and off of the pitch. We just need to stay positive in everything that we do and not dwell on the past.

“We can’t do anything about it, we just need to keep moving forward.”

The Junior Springboks won their only Junior World Cup title in South Africa back in 2012.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport