Junior Boks’ England Victory

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote credited his players for their composure and character after they recorded their second pool victory at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy with a great win over England in Rovigo on Friday evening.

Despite a slow start, the SA U20s remained calm and delivered the knock-out blow in a superb opening 10 minutes of the second half, followed by a commanding defensive performance, to beat the defending champions by 32-22.

England led 14-0 after 12 minutes but the Junior Boks clawed their way back and at 22-19 behind at the break, they were in the contest.

Thirteen unanswered points early in the second half – including a penalty goal of almost 60m by Vusi Moyo and a bonus point try by Haashim Pead for his second brace of the tournament – put the Junior Boks in the pound seats and they repelled England’s constant attacks thereafter for a great win.

With a full-house of 10 log points from their two victories, a spot in the semi-finals is within reach, but Foote said they are still building and are only looking at the next match, against Scotland on Wednesday.

“We’ll take a lot of confidence from this victory, but Scotland are a good side, they ran England close in the Six Nations, and we certainly will not underestimate any team ever – we’ll keep our feet on the ground and focus on the next job,” said Foote.

“Having said that, I thought the boys showed massive character tonight to come back from 14-0 down, take the lead with some great attacking play, and then keep England out for the rest of the match.

“I have to applaud the leadership in our team as well – the players never panicked and those two penalty goals by Vusi early in the second half gave us momentum, after which I was super proud of our defence at the end.”

Foote said they realise they have to play for the full 80 minutes, and that they are getting closer to that.

“We were a bit slow at the breakdowns early in the game, where we turned over ball that gave England momentum and fatigued us,” said Foote.

“But as a team we spoke about getting better the harder the game gets. We remained calm and stuck to getting the next job done, staying with our processes and keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

“I also think our combinations are starting to click on defence, something we identified as an area to work on earlier in the season, and the way in which the guys defended at the end was huge.

“The players deserve credit for their bravery on defence and executing on the field – they showed great character, which is testament to the culture and belief in this team.”

SA U20 captain Riley Norton gave England credit for their strong start and said they knew it was going to be a great battle against the defending champions.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but I’m very proud of our defence at the end, as it’s something we pride ourselves on as South Africans,” said Norton.

“We’re out here giving everything for our country and we’re all very proud of the win, but we’re still building, and we’ll take massive confidence from this game.

“To be honest, it’s not quite sunk in yet. We will celebrate tonight, but tomorrow we go again – it’s five days until we face Scotland and we have the bigger picture in mind, so we’re very excited for the next three games.”

The Junior Boks’ final Pool A game against Scotland kicks off at 15h30 in Calvisano, after which the three pool winners and the best-placed team in second position will qualify for the semi-finals, on Monday 14 July.