Junior Boks bag bronze

JUNIOR Springbok coach Chean Roux praised his team’s fighting spirit as they outplayed France 37-15 to win the bronze medal at the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Tbilisi yesterday.

The Junior Boks overcame a tight first half in which they trailed 8-7, to deliver a strong second-half showing in which they crossed the tryline four times, with hooker Johan Grobbelaar touching down twice, to outplay their opponents.

They backed this up with a solid defensive effort in which they limited France to a consolation try in the dying minutes from a quick tap to take their try tally to two for the match, and to secure the convincing victory.

“The players showed great character to come out in the second half the way they did in what marked their fifth match in the tournament,” said Roux. “We didn’t play perfect rugby, but we stuck to our structures and one or two things we worked on before this match gave us momentum.

“All the credit must go to the players, they played very well. This is a special group of players.” – ANA