Baby Boks run in 11 tries to romp to victory in World Cup

IN THE build-up to the Junior Springboks’ final pool match against Argentina, coach Chean Roux was wary of the opposition’s “fast-paced game” and their scrummaging, but once the Junior Boks got going, he had no reason to worry. None whatsoever.

Roux needed no reminding of the areas that caused a few headaches against the hosts last week – the scrums, the unforced errors and, at times, the lineouts.

But all those areas that were such a big concern against Georgia were nowhere to be seen at the Avchala Stadium yesterday.

In their last round-robin game of the World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Georgia, the Baby Boks produced a top performance and scored 11 tries to the Argentines’ two to book a semi-final spot.

The South Africans were superb at scrum time, their lineouts were first-class, and in open play they were simply unstoppable.

The return of flyhalf Curwin Bosch certainly boosted the team, and he showed just why he is such a force with pinpoint line kicks and try-creating cross-kicks and grubbers, while he also contributed seven conversions and a penalty kick.

Another exciting prospect in centre Damian Willemse also thrilled as he showed off a few classy offloads and even hotter stepping.

Left wing Gianni Lombard’s performance also stood out among plenty of other great ones, and his perfect chip kicks, running and stepping bagged him two tries.

But it wasn’t just the three of them that shone. It was an all-round performance by everyone on the field.

The communication, the support play, the set-piece domination, the lethal counter-attacking and the attacking potency – all of those factors made it a tough time for the Argentines. And when the whistle went for the second half kick-off, well, the Junior Boks were even better and took complete control of the game.

The SA side’s lineout was superb early on, and both their first tries resulted from the set-piece.

In opposition 22, hooker Johan Grobbelaar produced a brilliant, long lineout throw, and the Baby Boks’ forwards delivered a powerful forward drive to get the No 2 over for the first try of the match, and after a try by right wing Yaw Penxe was disallowed, the Junior Boks capitalised on a wayoff-target throw by Argentina, and Grobbelaar snatched the ball up at the back of the lineout to dive over an open try-line.

The Baby Boks also showed great variation at the lineout, and that was evident when No 8 Juarno Augustus scored his fourth try of the tournament from the set-piece later in the game. For the Argentines there were tries for prop Alejandro Luna and wing Tomas Malanos – good reward for the possession and territory they enjoyed in the first 30 minutes.

At half-time, the Junior Boks were 31-14 ahead, and in the second period it was damage control for the South Americans as the South Africans ran in six more tries (they also had a couple disallowed).