Cape Times

Baby Boks just not good enough on the day ...

- Wynona Louw

A GOOD FIGHTBACK has been the Junior Springboks’ friend at the World Rugby Under-20 Championsh­ip this year, but last night it wasn’t enough to overcome England and secure a place in the final.

In the first semi-final of the night, England had all the say when it came to territory and possession in the first half, and as has been the case in all three of their pool games, the Junior Boks produced a laudable comeback in the second half to turn a 15 point halftime deficit (22-7) into a onepoint game in the last minute of the game.

And as much as they deserve praise for their comebacks, the Junior Boks just weren’t good enough on the day against a more clinical England side.

And producing an 80-minute performanc­e has been a real problem for them.

The Junior Boks were under pressure very early on as they were shown yellow sixth in the minute, and England used it to their advantage and scored two tries – one converted – in that time through Tom Parton and Tom Hardwick (12-0).

The Junior Boks played a mostly defensive role in the first half, and Ben White added to England’s early try tally when he rounded off a fantastic team effort early in the second quarter to take the score to 19-0.

Just after the half-hour mark Sazi Sandi got the Junior Boks’ first try, and fullback Gianni Lombard added the two-pointer to take the score to 19-7.

On the stroke of halftime, Marcus Smith added a penalty to extend England’s lead (22-7)

Chean Roux’s team started much better in the second half.

After some phase play, the Junior Boks’ forwards pulled together and Muller Uys made up for one of the tries that was scored in his absence by diving over after being propelled forward for a great maul try. Lombard sent the conversion attempt just wide (22-12). And afterwards Smith added a penalty kick to extend England’s lead (25-12).

It became a six-point game when lock Ruan Nortjie assessed his space well before sneaking the ball over the try line after clearing it from the base of a ruck centimetre­s from the whitewash. Lombard hit his target this time to take the score to 25-19.

England got another try when Ben Curry put in a massive ball-dislodging hit on Junior Bok inside centre Rikus Pretorius. Left wing Jordan Olowofela capitalise­d and sprinted to the try line to score their fourth try. Smith added the extras (32-19).

It became an eight-point game when outside centre Manuel Rass got involved in the Junior Boks’ pick-and-goes and scored. Lombard missed out on the chance to bring the points difference to six when he missed the conversion. (3224).

With six minutes to go, England were reduced to 14 men when James Scott was sent to the sin bin after repeated infringeme­nts. And with a numerical advantage, the South African pack continued their big second-half performanc­e when replacemen­t tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakany­e scored his first try of the tournament. Lombard made no mistake with the conversion (32-31).

 ??  ?? CHEAN ROUX: Better in second half
CHEAN ROUX: Better in second half

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa