Junior Boks win, but not without some flaws
IF THE Junior Boks manage to replicate some of the moments they produced in their win over Georgia in their second match of the World Under-20 Championship, their chances of making it all the way to the final can’t be too bad.
There were some outstanding moments that resulted in brilliant tries, but it was by no means a perfect performance.
They made a number of unforced errors and both sides were guilty when it came to the scrums not being able to stay up, while the lineouts were also a problem. But the Junior Boks mixed their imperfect performance with perfect moments to get the win.
They scored the first try of the match after their forwards took the ball through a number of phases, and No 8 Juarno Augustus eventually found a gap in the Georgians’ sturdy defence and powered through. Fullback Jean-Luc Cilliers added the conversion.
The Georgians crossed the line shortly afterwards when Koba Jimsheleishvili went over, but the home crowd’s cheers turned to boos when the TV match official confirmed the skipper lost control of the ball after pressure by Boks flyhalf Manie Libbok in the tackle.
The hosts brought some excitement into the game when Davit Meshki produced some individual brilliance as he broke through tackles and side-stepped his way past defenders, before eventually sending lock Lasha Tabidze over for the try.
For a period thereafter, things went sour for the South Africans as the Georgians’ defence put them under pressure, while their lineout work and unnecessary kicking away of possession didn’t help their cause.
But Chean Roux’s team upped their game when outside centre Wandisile Simelane sidestepped his way past three defenders to go over for the try. Cilliers added the extras, and the Baby Boks didn’t stop there. After Simelane’s try, Cilliers sparked a great counter-attack with a neat chip kick in own 22, and after a series of kick-aheads, pivot Manie Libbok scooped the ball up and effortlessly ran in to score.
After a solid start to the second half, the South Africans got their fourth try when scrumhalf Embrose Papier put winger Yaw Penxe into space with an offload, and Penxe showed his strength by breaking through two defenders to score.
The Junior Boks impressed again when Simelane got his second and rounded off stunning team play that saw the ball travel through numerous pairs of hands and running lines that penetrated Georgia’s defence to score their fifth try.
Georgia got a chance to score in the third quarter when Tedo Abzhandadze put in a beautiful grubber for Giorgi Gogoladze to run onto and dot down for the try.
The Baby Boks got another try when inside centre Damian Willemse created magic with his feet as he stepped past defenders to send a perfectly-timed offload to Libbok to score.
Scorers
Georgia: Tries: Lasha Tabidze, Gogoladze Conversions: Gela Aprasidze (2) Junior Boks: Tries: Juarno Augustus, Wandisile Simelane (2), Manie Libbok (2), Yaw Penxe Conversions: Jean-Luc Cilliers (2), Curwin Bosch (2)