Junior Boks go down fighting in narrow semi-final loss to England

JUNIOR Springboks coach Chean Roux was disappointed as his team went down in the World Rugby U20 Championship semi-final against England at the M Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. But he commended the players for fighting until the end.

The SA Under-20s trailed 17-12 at the break as England scored two converted tries and a penalty goal, while the Junior Boks’ managed two tries from No 8 Juarno Augustus and one conversion by flyhalf Curwin Bosch.

Roux’s team fought back strongly in the second half with a converted try and penalty goal to take a 22-17 lead. But a converted try by England in the dying min- utes pushed them 24-22 ahead, which they hung on to until the final whistle.

“I thought the players showed tremendous character out there and fought right until the end. And in the end of it all we were only two points short of advancing to the final,” said Roux.

England struck first in the first half, with captain and No 8 Zach Mercer touching down in the third minute after receiving a pass in space following a series of pick-and-gos. But the SA Under20s struck back minutes later with Augustus touching down thanks to good inter-passing and support play, which Bosch converted to level the scores at 7-7.

England, however, stretched their score to 17 points com- pliments of a converted try by scrumhalf Alex Mitchell and a penalty goal by Max Malins.

The Junior Boks reduced the deficit to 17-12 on the stroke of halftime as Augustus forced his way over the tryline from a pickand-go. They backed this up with another try early in the second half thanks to a well-timed dive into the traffic at a ruck under the posts by lock Ruben van Heerden to take a 19-17 lead.

Bosch added a penalty goal with eight minutes left on the clock to extend the team’s lead to 22-17, but this was cancelled out by Mercer’s second try under the uprights, which Malins converted for a 24-22 lead, which allowed England to secure the victory.