So close but not enough for Baby Boks

OUTSTANDING No 8 Zach Mercer scored a late try which flyhalf Max Malins converted to give England a narrow win in a tense World Rugby Under-20 Championship semi-final in Tbilisi yesterday.

The Junior Boks will rue a slew of mistakes that allowed England to stay in the game despite their set piece wilting under huge South African pressure.

England enjoyed the bulk of ball, but were on the ropes for long periods of the second period. The Junior Boks, though, lacked the cutting edge that saw them smash Argentina five days earlier.

SA No 8 Juarno Augustus was equally impressive, scoring two more tries to take his tournament tally to five, while the rest of the pack were immense.

The Junior Bok backline didn’t have enough quality ball to test England’s defence though.

Flyhalf Curwin Bosch was unable to dictate terms as England’s manic defence shut down his options, while fullback Manie Libbok had a nightmare afternoon, culminating in a shared missed tackle on Mercer, with centre Damian Willemse, as the Englishman went in for the winning try with three minutes left.

It was the 10th time these two sides have met in the 10th edition of this tournament and England now hold a 7-3 winning tally against SA, as they advanced to their fifth successive final.

England, the defending champions, unsurprisingly held the lead at the break, but when SA scored their second try through Augustus, after the halftime hooter sounded it was the Junior Boks that went into the sheds with a spring in their step.

When SA lock Ruben van Heerden crashed over in the 56th minute and Bosch converted to give SA the lead for the first time it appeared the tide had turned.

Bosch added a 73rd-minute penalty to stretch the lead to five points.

But it was Mercer and England that had the final say.