The Junior Springboks face England in La Roche-sur-Yon this afternoon in a key Pool A decider, as they attempt to defend the IRB Junior World Championship crown they won in Cape Town last year.
Coach Dawie Theron has kept faith in the starting fifteen that romped to a 97-0 victory over the USA in midweek, with Bulls lock Jannes Kirsten coming in for the Lions’ Kwagga Smit in the only change to the bench.
Kick-off is at 16h45 SA time and the game will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
SA U20 team versus England:
15. Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Western Province)
14. Luther Obi (Platinum Leopards)
13. Justin Geduld (SARU contracted)
12. Handré Pollard (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
11. Seabelo Senatla (SARU contracted)
10. Robert du Preez (The Sharks)
9. Stefan Ungerer (The Sharks)
8. Ruan Steenkamp (Vodacom Blue Bulls, captain)
7. Jacques du Plessis (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
6. Roelof Smit (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
5. Dennis Visser (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
4. Irné Herbst (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
3. Luan de Bruin (Toyota Free State Cheetahs)
2. Jacques du Toit (Toyota Free State Cheetahs)
1. Andrew Beerwinkel (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
Replacements:
16. Michael Willemse (DHL Western Province)
17. Sti Sithole (DHL Western Province)
18. Jannes Kirsten (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
19. Aidon Davis (EP Kings)
20. Hanco Venter (The Sharks)
21. Dries Swanepoel (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
22. Jesse Kriel (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
23. Marné Coetzee (The Sharks)
Tweet
I’m going to miss this game. Nooit!
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 1) : NOOOO! Why?
got my godchild coming over for a bit, thought the game was later
I read that Mallet has turned down the opportunity to coach the Sharks. Plumtree is on his way out.
@Loosehead (Comment 4) : @Loosehead (Comment 4) : where did you read that?
Sbtw, the score is SA 13 – 0 Eng 12 min
Wow I found it. Pity he said no but im so happy something is happening
@West Indies Cricket Board (Comment 7) : where?
Bokkies not doing too bad! 16-0 now
@Loosehead (Comment 4) : don’t even joke about that. Give us all the info!!!!!!!!! 😯
Intersept…
SA 21 – 0 ENG
31 min
SA 21 – 7 ENG
36 min
pollard & swanepoel miss tackles!
SA 21 – 7 ENG
Ht
@Megatron (Comment 14) : I’m just putting this out there…. Pollard is completely overrated.
Superior size and power of the English boys beginning to take its toll.
21 – 12 conversion to come
21 – 14
Try time!! 26 – 14
Make that 28 – 14
@Die Kriek (Comment 9) : Rugby365.com
Awesome counter attack!! Senatla gets his hat trick.
or maybe not…
Nope, touch judge gets his moment of fame. Play called back for england penalty just outside SA 22 dead in front
28 – 17
England miss a 60 m penalty attempt
SA penalty 8 m outside England 22 dead in front
31 – 17
Try England.. 31 – 22
@robdylan (Comment 16) : So is du Preez.
31 – 24
Sa back 3 and loose forwards good. Front row getting hammered and the centres suck big time. Matter of time before England break through midfield again
Good break by SA, short 10 m but fail to clear ball at back, pops out and england clear to halfway
SA beginning to wear down. Getting out muscled.
14 mins left, 7 point lead. SA lineout 20 m from their own line
Engalnd scrum on SA 10 m line. Bokkies holding on by fingernails at the moment
U20’s play the same dumb-shit SA rugby that the seniors do.
what a tackle Obi!
England penalty 5 m inside their half. SA scrum buckeld and front row popped up
@Megatron (Comment 39) : Someone had to, goodness knows the centers cant.
SA kick straight out after a good turnover, lineout england 10 m outside SA 22
SA win penalty on their 10 m, penalty reversed for foul play, SA get a yellowcard.
Sorry, penalty not reveresed, SA still get yellow
England also got yellow…
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 44) : how much time left?
England lineout just inside SA 22
@JD (Comment 46) : 2 mins
and Ive lost feed… with england 15 out and 2 mins to play!!
1 min left. SA scrum 10 m from their line
We need new centres and a whole new frontrow.
@rhineshark (Comment 51) : Completely agree. Du Preez has been invisible apart from his goal kicking too
SA win. Bit fortunate in the end.
@rhineshark (Comment 51) : @Pablo Dinero (Comment 52) : Losing Jan Serfontein was huge as he was sure to start at 12 for Baby Bokke. Not easy to replace him so close to the competition.
@JD (Comment 54) : That wasnt the only problem although I agree he would have made a big difference. Front row was also bullied and if it hadnt been for the individual speed and skill of the back 3 and the tenacious tackling of the loose forwards, this would not have been a win. Also, when the passion of the first 20 mins wore off, SA looked very vulnerable.
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 53) : Glad to hear that they won. This will be a wake-up call for the coach and the players. 2 from 2, nice start.
@JD (Comment 56) : Against a good England side too, but they will have to be better against the Baby Blacks if they meet
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 52) : @JD (Comment 54) : I didn’t know that we played a 3-game series against the Argies earlier the year and lost it 2-1. Watching this game explains a lot, because we can’t scrum to save our lives and our midfield is shockingly crap. Du Preez was so-so at best.
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 57) : well atleast they put themselfs in a position to go for it. I think a close game like this one is just what is needed to wake-up the players and the coach. The first game was easy so maybe they thought that all the games will be easy, now they know they must work hard for the rest of the competition.
I reckon a close game like this that exposes a few weaknesses is better for us in the long run than another rout… I was worried that were were winning too easily in the first half.
@rhineshark (Comment 58) : to be fair I think that three game series were played in Argentina. Hope that after this close game the side will be ready for the next games. Atleast they’re 2 from 2 and in with a chance.
Read on News24 that we approached Mallet. Bugger turned us down and said he’ll only consider after the 2015 RWC!!! At least Plum knows he’s no longer wanted.
@robdylan (Comment 60) : Same here. The ref didn’t do us any favours by going nuts against the poor Poms in the first 20 min. He completely ignored transgressions by us that were just about identical to theirs.
@JD (Comment 61) : Home or away, we shouldn’t be losing to the Argies anywhere!
@JD (Comment 59) : @robdylan (Comment 60) : Yeah I agree. There is work to be done, but the win is important. They rocked England in the first 20. Outside backs look very good. Loose forwards also dynamic, so those are positives. England had an experienced team, so it was a good win.
@robdylan (Comment 60) : have to agree with you and now the coach and players (Hopefully) knows what to work on and improve before the next game.
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 65) : England butchered a few opportunities. We could easily have lost this game, but for a few lucky breaks.
@rhineshark (Comment 63) : In all fairness, the Poms were way undisciplined and over aggressive. No doubt they were generally bigger and more physical than SA. Lucky the SA back 3 were more skilled and the English players tried to run over rather their opposition every time instead of popping the ball into gaps.
@rhineshark (Comment 67) : Absolutely, I agree. England played dumber and thus lost.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 62) : actually he said he’d like to coach a test team after 2015
@robdylan (Comment 70) : Let’s make me an offer he can’t refuse. Every man has his price.
@robdylan (Comment 70) : If Dingo loses to the Lions, I guess he will be available pretty soon…
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 68) : That’s exactly how we play as well.
@robdylan (Comment 70) : Any inside track on a future coach? Brendan Venter would be worth it for the post match interview alone.
@rhineshark (Comment 73) : Well yes, if this had been an IQ test, they both would have failed.
That game was a little disappointing at times, but we got the win and that’s what matters!
Not too impressed with du Preez or Pollard to be honest. Senatla and Kolbe however are phenomenal with ball in hand.
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 75) : 😆
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 55) : If my uncle had t its she would be my aunt.
England are a good side, but they were more focussed on trying to bully the boks in the 1st 20 minutes, so SA were full value for their win. Some big lads in that England side, very impressed with the winger, very high workrate and strong runner.
Pollard not a shadow of the player he was in 2012. A season with the Bulls, and all his flair coached out of him lol.
@rhineshark (Comment 58) : They were practise games, and in both matches the boks comprehensively outscored the argies in terms of tries. The empasis was clearly on getting there structure together fr the tournament.
England have a very big pack of forwards. I would be a bit less critical of our scrums.
@KingCheetah (Comment 78) : that 11 is going to play test rugby. Can’t say I thought much of the rest of the English, although their tights, on the whole, were better than ours.
@KingCheetah (Comment 79) : So we should just accept that bigger packs of forwards will out-scrum us 🙄
@KingCheetah (Comment 79) : Scrumming is about technique as well. They’re not THAT much bigger. Besides their scrum dominance they have a hooker that plays like a loosie. Both of ours were incognito all game.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 81) : @rhineshark (Comment 82) : the main thing for me is that they managed to beat England. They need to be ready for the other games and the Baby Blacks. They’re still unbeaten in in with a chance of winning the crown again.
If Saffex still says Cheslin Kolbe isn’t the best u20 fullback we have, then I well and truly don’t know which Baby Bok games he’s watching
@Ludz (Comment 84) : jeez how porous were pollard & swanepoel in midfield? 😯
@Megatron (Comment 85) : shocking!!!
@robdylan (Comment 80) : The Poms thought they could lay a marker and intimidate us early on, it cost them dearly. Big forwards in that pack, and we got through that, We maybe had our toughest examination in terms of physicality tonight, and got through somehow.
Agree re the 11, though the centres were also useful, as was the FB
@FireTheLooser (Comment 81) : Nope I didn’t say that, just bringing some perspective. Games are not just about the scrums. Cheetahs beat the Bulls hands down in the scrums too, fat lot of good that did hey?
And another Grand Slam Point for me 😎
Well done Bokkies! Keep up the good work!