This crucialgame is about to get underway.
New Zealand under 20:
1 Atunaisa Moli
2 Hame Faiva
3 Tau Koloamatangi
4 James Tucker
5 Geoffrey Cridge
6 Tom Sanders
7 Lachlan Boshier
8 Matt Peni
9 Mitchell Drummond
10 Simon Hickey (C)
11 Tevita Li
12 Jackson Garden-Bachop
13 Anton Lienert-Brown
14 Vincent Tavae-Aso
15 Damian McKenzie
16 James O’Reilly
17 Scott Mellow
18 Tim Cadwallader
19 Kyle Harris
20 Josh Dickson
21 Josh Renton
22 Richard Mo’unga
23 Tauasosi Tuimavave
South Africa under 20:
1 Thomas Du Toit
2 Corniel Els
3 Dayan Van Der Westhuizen
4 JD Schickerling
5 Nico Janse Van Rensburg
6 Jean Luc Du Preez
7 Cyle Brink
8 Aidon Davis
9 JP Smith
10 Handre Pollard (C)
11 Sergeal Petersen
12 Dan Kriel
13 Jesse Kriel
14 Lloyd Greef
15 Warrick Gelant
16 Joseph Dweba
17 Pierre Schoeman
18 Wilco Louw
19 Abongile Nonkontwana
20 Victor Sekekete
21 Zee Mkhabela
22 Jean Luc Du Plessis
23 Duhan van der Merwe
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geez, how big is our loose trio?
I can’t wait for the day when South African rugby players stop kicking away turnover ball. Dumb shit!
We have our own Tuilagi brother in the team.
SA 6 – 0 NZ
11 min
NZ score in the corner from turn over ball in our 22.
SA 6 – 7 NZ
The Baby Bok error rate is way too high.
And now shit defense to go with it.
Jean Luc du Preez down
Great reaction from Moli to turn him into the recovery position.
@rhineshark (Comment 9) : Yeah good to see that from him.
14-6
Jean-Luc stretchered off. That’s bad
Kiwi demolish our attacking scrum on their line
According to the commentators Jean-Luc is OK. Good news!
14-9
Excellent Bok try in the corner
Bokkies strike back from a lineout win against the throw!
Pollard’s out of hand kicking is poor thus far. Has cost us points.
Baby Blacks 17 – 14 Bokkies HT
Man this Pollard really mixes the good with mediocre….his long pass has me cringing every time, just makes me realise how accurate Lambie is with his passing.
And can the guys please stop with the hospital passes.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 20) : How many overlaps did we butcher wth poor passing? I stopped counting…
Gelant hasn’t impressed at all.
Go for the lineout penalty and we mess it up!
Errors!! FFS!!!
Try Pollard!!! Great play from a tighthead!
Try South Africa!
Nice Bokkie try after winning a tight head
Bokkies 21 – 17 Baby Blacks 48min
Great awareness from Kriel to offload to Pollard in the tackle
The kick and charge hasn’t worked at all, yet we persist.
I like the look of the SA 9. Nice pass and a terrier attitude
@rhineshark (Comment 30) : Yeah, Damian McKenzie handling those high balls with ease.
Kiwi hooker cannot buy a lineout
@Bokhoring (Comment 31) : Jip, and lightning service.
Bokkies have the Kiwis under the cosh here. Just not finishing off
Interesting to note how similar the junior and senior Bok gameplans are. Not a criticism per say, just an observation. When it’s executed accurately it works well for them.
Greef in the corner!!!
Another Bokkie try
@vanmartin (Comment 36) : But the Bokkies still showing a bit more adventure, and at least allow the ball to go wide
Bokkies 26 – 17 Baby Blacks 57 min
26-17
@Bokhoring (Comment 39) : Something the Sharks could learn from.
Brilliant line kick from Pollard – attacking lineout on the Kiwi tryline
How much time is left?
@Bokhoring (Comment 39) : That has a lot to do with their halfback combo I suspect (and laying the platform of course). Hope the Bulls don’t eventually break Pollard
@R Hayward (Comment 44) : 17 minutes
Li has made Greef his bitch.
Poor mauling followed by kak tackling allow Kiwis to break out
Kiwi hooker stuffs up yet another lineout
Besides one scrum and one lineout, our set piece has had total dominance.
“Absolutely woeful New Zealand lineout work”
New Zealand has just lost their sixth lineout.
From far the replacement prop looks the spitting image of Jannie Dup
@Bokhoring (Comment 52) : Thought the exact same thing
Aggressive defense from the Bokkies have the Blackies in reverse
Geez, when the South Africa defence fires it works really well! New Zealand attacking back into their own half!
SA not getting the rub of the green when it comes to breakdown calls. That seems awfully familiar too.
@vanmartin (Comment 55) : They went from our 22 to their own keeping possession.
@vanmartin (Comment 55) : Kiwi backline is not enjoying that defense at all
Jessie Kriel cuts a NZ player in half. Only his jersey keeping him in one piece. Love that sort of defence.
Monster maul from the Bokkies
Ref finally sending a New Zealander to the sin bin.
And that’s the ball game! Bonus point try!
New Zealand still have hands in the ruck on their tryline after that yellow
. Thankfully SA still ends up scoring in the corner.
Loves Pollard’s captaincy – keeps the pressure on the opposition with attacking lineout – another try on the other corner
Bokkies 33 – 17 Baby Blacks 71 min
NZ now needs to score 3 times in 9 minutes to win
@Bokhoring (Comment 64) : Promising player, isn’t he?
Baby Blacks are rattled big time!
Once that SA defensive line is properly reset it simply forces the Kiwis into errors. New Zealand will probably only score from broken play if they have anything left in the tank.
7 minutes remain.
We need a better scrum now boys – come one Jannie jnr
Jean Luc Du Plessis has looked the business.
2/6 on Superbru for me
Jean Luc du Plessis threads the needle with a superb pick-up from a poor pass and a great little tactical kick.
Monster SA scrum almost results in the most pedestrian of tries.
Some brilliant offloads from the Bokkies
Jannie du Plessis Jnr tackles a poor Kiwi into an early, shallow grave.
Baby Jannie tackles much better than regular Jannie.
Kiwis score a good breakout try, but probably too little too late
@Bokhoring (Comment 79) : Yeah, lapse of concentration from SA there. No one home at the back for SA.
Great victory Bokkies!!
Well done jr. Boks.
Our boy Thomas really needs to learn how to catch the ball, he seems to be taking lessons from Jannie.
New Zealand bonus point try denied after a last gasp effort from them. SA defence prevails again and forced the error.
Bokkies 33 – 24 Baby Blacks FT
Bokkies win
Excellent win – beat NZ in NZ
Great stuff, didn’t expect even a win and they won with a bonus point against NZ in NZ!
Well done junior Boks! Great set-pieces, a good territory game (for the most part) and aggressive defence resulted in some great try-scoring opportunities.
That was fun to watch for a change – after the dreary S15 so far
Congrats Laaities!
2nd half Pollard did much better than first half Pollard…not the fully rounded player yet, but definitely a decent prospect.
Heyneke Meyer take note!
Tevita Li going to be the superstar of the tournament.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 91) : Indeed as long as all the running is coached out of him.
@vanmartin (Comment 94) : He is at the Bulls what are the chances?
Some future stars in that team, although I expect the running intent to be soon coached out of them at senior level
Couldn’t watch and only managed to get on here now, who scored the Tries, and how did the Kriels do?
@vanmartin (Comment 94) : Ja, his style won’t suit the Bokke yet, even though that is what it takes to beat NZ in NZ.
So stoked I got to work from home today. Really enjoyed this game.
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 97) : The Kriels were really good on attack and defense
@FireTheLooser (Comment 98) : New Zealand – Tries: Tevita Li(3).Conversions: Simon Hickey(3). Penalty:Hickey.
South Africa –Tries:Jesse Kriel, Handre Pollard, Lloyd Greef, Warrick Gelant. Conversions: Pollard (2). Penalties: Pollard (3).
I was really impressed by Jesse Kriel. Didn’t see much of his brother though but I was on phone call every now and again so I might have simply missed his plays.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 98) : I think it goes to show that the White/Meyer gameplan can be highly effective but it relies on very good decision makers at 9 and 10. Play the game in the right areas and apply enough pressure and the tries will be on if you have halfbacks willing to have a go at the line.
And full marks for Pollard’s positive captaincy. Sometimes turning down the 3 points and taking the attacking lineout is the better option.
Also I liked that the Bokkies balanced forward and back play. How often do we see Super teams bashing and bashing with forwards until they loose the ball. Bokkies bashed and then sent the ball wide – try in the corner each time
@vanmartin (Comment 99) : What a coincidence!
@Bokhoring (Comment 100) : Thank you Bokhoring. Jesse scored a try he always does (Red black and white dominates
. So upset he didn’t come to the Sharks. I will take a turn by his mom’s work and congratulate her.
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 105) : He also made Pollard’s with a good run and a popup pass
@vanmartin (Comment 102) : Yep, their gameplan is the best way to go about things, no use in running everything from your own 22 (even the baby ab’s learned that today).
But you need a fh with both kicking and running/passing skills to effectively execute it, without the boring old “forwards do all the work” rugby.
Our Jr. structures seem to be really solid these days, which is where HM also deserves credit, if I’m not mistaken. We’ll be reaping the rewards for the work being done with the juniors very soon.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 107) : 100% agreed. I’d only add that part of what made Pollard look so good is decent ball from his 9. Sharks need to really invest in Reinach going forward and find some decent backup for him too.
@vanmartin (Comment 108) : Is Smith a Bull?
@vanmartin (Comment 108) : Ungerer is Good! wait till he gets a chance. Okai have to admit I am going purely on his school form as I have not been following VC or age group
@Bokhoring (Comment 109) : I think so yes.
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 110) : I’m very anxious to see more of him. Hopefully he gets some more opportunities in the Currie Cup
@Bokhoring (Comment 109) : Confirmed yes, originally from Queen’s College.
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 110) : @vanmartin (Comment 111) : His very short time from the bench in a SR game was very impressive…fast, crisp, clean, ball, all, night, long.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 113) : Maybe time to thank McLeod for his service and invest heavily in Reinach and Ungerer, and not wait until the Currie Cup
How about a short term ” Currie Cup ” contract for Rory Kockett ?
I know we should trust the young guys, but a little experienced guidence wouldn`t go amiss since we`ll probably be without all our experienced guys for the currie cup again?
@Bokhoring (Comment 114) : Ja, McLeod seems to be one of those spiteful players, only plays well when he has something to prove.
Time for him to experience the sights and sounds of Asia, his head is probably already there, no use prolonging the inevitable.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 113) : I certainly thought so, but it was a short time and I am a little biased having watched him at school.
@Original Pierre (Comment 115) : I don’t agree at Curry cup we need long term solutions otherwise next year we go to SR with Reinach and a greenhorn, Ungerer or who ever is to be Reinach’s bencher needs to get regular time. And I honestly feel maybe Cobus can use CC to learn to pass the ball to a player rather than to the player’s bootstraps!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 116) : I think he had some really good games for the Sharks (two CC finals) plus some really poor ones. This year he has just really gone off the boil.
@Bokhoring (Comment 114) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 116) : I am 100% in agreement with both of you! Besides your points I think its human nature, and McLeod is already thinking about his new venture in France and is merely going through the motions, it would be a better investment to start using players that are committed to Sharks.
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 117) : Don’t worry, I’m not particularly biased, as I had only seen him play for the Jr. Boks, where he really impressed me.
He’s definitely a brilliant player, and there seems to be very little hype around him (outside Durban at least), which means he can focus on playing brilliant rugby.
@Bokhoring (Comment 118) : I enjoyed McLeod, but as Lady-Dude said, it’s human nature to start focusing more on where you’re about to go, than where you currently are.
Time for him to make way for the new era.
The other player that caught my eye (apart from Smith, Pollard, Jessie Kriel and Jannie Dup Jnr) was the no 7. That guy is a strong bugger for his age.
I was impressed with 9&10,11&13 in the backline but our tighthead was massive as well as 4,7&8 with the replacement loosie impressive as well.
Greef should improve his defence, so I would bench him and move Dan to 11 and Pieterson to 14 with our beloved 12 coming back into it for the semi that is.
How did we let those Kriel boys go????
Pollard looking better and better, kicking not great but jeez he has improved light years in just a year.
Congrats Bokkies!!! Well done!!!!!
@Talent (Comment 124) : Keep in mind that there’s quite the queue when it comes to playing centre for the Sharks: Steyn, Jordaan, Sithole, Pietersen, Esterhuizen, Williams, Fisher. Tim Whitehead couldn’t even crack a nod. They probably make the Bulls squad much quicker.
@vanmartin (Comment 126) : @Talent (Comment 124) : can’t keep all the junior players, some will leave. The problem is selecting who to keep?!?! Sometimes great junior players will slip through the cracks, it’s sad but it’s a reality that happens to all unions.
@vanmartin (Comment 112) : @Bokhoring (Comment 109) : Yeah, that’s my boy, I was his senior by a year at Queen’s College, he played 1st team scrumhalf in my matric year and 2012. He’s a talented young chap, gonna go far because he’s got the work ethic. Great attitude, you can tell that from the 1st time you meet him.
@Ludz (Comment 128) : Good stuff, thanks for feedback Ludz. SA is desperate for decent scrumhalves.
@rhineshark (Comment 93) : The way it’s looking, Tevita Li might only play one more game before NZ is knocked out of the tournament. Ireland to beat Fiji with a bonus point and NZ are goooooooooooooooooone.
@jonnow (Comment 130) : Go Ireland!!!!!!