South Africa dig deep for Georgia win

THE Junior Springboks had to overturn a five-point half-time deficit on their way to an unimpressive 33-27 win over Georgia in their Under-20 Championship opener in Perpignan, France, yesterday.

The Junior Boks had two tries overturned on review and also endured a late yellow card for replacement prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye.

They scored five tries in all and conceded three, with No 8 Muller Uys crossing twice and flyhalf Damian Willemse scoring eight points from four conversions.

It was a scrappy‚ error-strewn first half from the Junior Boks‚ which undermined the massive preparation this team has been afforded.

The pack suffered in the scrum while the lineout was inconsistent and there was hardly any accurate tactical kicking on show.

Willemse‚ who did not play in any of the warm-up matches‚ failed to click with the players around him and made several uncharacteristic mistakes.

From one of his handling errors, Georgia scored their second try through an intercept from rightwing Deme Tapladze.

The Junior Boks were first on the scoreboard with one of their rare positive moments.

Centre Wandisile Simelane dotted down after a slick backline move and a clever inside ball from left-wing Sihle Njezula created space for the midfielder.

Georgia responded almost immediately, though‚ scoring through centre Lasha Lomidze.

Scrumhalf Gela Aprasidze landed the conversion and added a penalty minutes later to give the Eurasians the lead.

The Junior Boks hit the front again via a second try‚ scored by Uys.

Coach Chean Roux must have had harsh words at the break because after half time it was a different team that emerged from the sheds.

They kept it simple with short passes and quick recycling that stressed the Georgian defence.