Baby Boks hope to find glory at home

THE South African Rugby Union are hoping that homeground advantage will finally see their SA under-20 side clinch the IRB Junior World Championship title in June.

Since the format was changed from under-21s to under-20s in 2008, New Zealand have won all four tournaments.

But with this year’s edition being played at the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University, coach Dawie Theron and his Baby Boks will feel more confident of winning the elusive title. They face last year’s finalists England, Ireland and Italy in Pool B. Champions New Zealand are in Pool A with Fiji, Wales and Samoa, while Australia head Pool C, alongside France, Argentina and Scotland.

The tournament starts on Monday, June 4, at the UWC Rugby Stadium when Australia take on Scotland. The Baby Boks play their first match later the same day against Ireland at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.

Yesterday at a tournament media briefing at the Saru headquarters in Newlands, general manager commercial and marketing Andy Marinos said that the Baby Boks will play a series against Argentina next month in preparation for the world championship.

The Baby Boks failed to reach the semi-finals last year after losing to England in the pool stages. They ended in fifth place following a 104-17 thrashing of Fiji. The final squad is expected to be named on April 27. “Yes, hopefully we can have a different name on that trophy,” Marinos said. “Our expectations are very high for the Baby Boks, and we must make sure that our home-ground advantage counts. We don’t want to put too much pressure on the team, but we hope that they can go all the way this time.”

For the first time in history, all 30 tournament matches will be televised by Supersport, and Marinos said that tickets will be priced competitively in the hope that fans come out to the two venues.

Playoffs will take place on Sunday, June 17, with the finals day on Friday, June 22.

“We are delighted to be hosting such a major rugby tournament, and South Africa are masters at hosting such events,” Marinos said. “The IRB can be rest assured that it will be a world-class delivery.”

IRB tournament director Phillippe Bourdarias, who has spent the last three days in Cape Town inspecting the venues and finalising some details, said at the briefing yesterday that the tournament is broadcast in 149 countries.

Some of the new brigade of international stars who have played in the tournament include Springboks Pat Lambie and Francois Hougaard, All Black World Cup winners Aaron Cruden, Sam Whitelock and Zac Guildford, Australia’s Will Genia and David Pocock, and Wales Test captain Sam Warburton.