The Junior Springboks recorded their third straight bonus-point victory in the pool phase of the World Rugby U20 Championship as they beat Scotland by 73-14 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Calvisano to seal top spot in their group in Italy.
The South Africans also beat Australia (73-17) and England (32-22) to book their spot in the semi-finals, and on Wednesday, they probably did enough to secure the top-seed position for the playoffs, which are scheduled to take place next Monday.
Playing with purpose and showcasing their silky skills, the first half belonged to the Junior Boks, who scored at more than a point per minute as they crossed the Scottish tryline seven times.
Jaco Williams (left wing) scored after four minutes when he launched a counter-attack from inside his own 22. Six minutes later, captain and flanker Thando Biyela was driven over, with Dominic Malgas (centre) adding the third in the 13th minute after a sniping break and great run from the back of a great scrum by Ceano Everson (scrumhalf).
The bonus point try was in the bag in the 16th minute when Williams scored his second try from a lineout move, and Oliver Reid (prop) added his name to the score sheet five minutes later from a maul.
Scotland pulled ne back through Seb Stephen (hooker), but fullback Gilermo Mentoe's try in the 31ste minute, followed by Jean Erasmus (prop) crashing over four minutes later, pushed the Junior Boks past 40 points in the half.
It could have been 50 had Reid not dropped the ball on the tryline from a 30m rolling maul on the stroke of half-time, and from the restart after the break, Williams came within centimetres of grabbing his hat-trick as he just stepped on the dead-ball line as he dotted down.
In the next few minutes, Cheswill Jooste (wing) and Jaco Grobbelaar (lock) were held up over the line as the South Africans kept hammering away while SA U20 head coach Kevin Foote brought on the replacements.
The Junior Boks lost a bit of momentum as Scotland stepped up their game, but the South Africans were probably also guilty of becoming a bit too loose as they tried to stretch their lead.
They finally scored again on the hour mark as Everson stepped his way through the Scottish defence, and four minutes later Stephanus Linde (No 8) rounded off a brilliant team try that started from a counter-attack in their own 22, with the handling simply brilliant.
Everson scored his brace in the 71st minute to push the Junior Boks past 60 points as they grew in confidence, but Oliver Finlayson-Russell (replacement prop) grabbed a second for the Scots as they refused to give up.
However, Haashim Pead (replacement scrumhalf) scored his fifth try of the competition at the death, from a move that started with a scrum in their own half, to push the Junior Boks past 70 for the second time in Italy.
Scorers:
Junior Springboks 73 (45) - Tries: Jaco Williams (2), Thando Biyela, Dominic Malgas, Oliver Reid, Gilermo Mentoe, Jean Erasmus, Ceano Everson (2), Stephanus Linde, Haashim Pead. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (4), Ian van der Merwe (5).
Scotland 14 (7) - Tries: Seb Stephen, Oliver Finlayson-Russell. Conversions: Matthew Urwin, Jack Brown.
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Dominic Malgas, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Stephanus Linder, 7 Matt Romao, 6 Thando Biyela (Captain), 5 Morne Venter, 4 Jaco Grobbelaar, 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Oliver Reid. Replacements: 16 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 JJ Theron, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Ian van der Merwe, 23 Demitre Erasmus.
Scotland: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Nairn Moncrieff, 13 Angus Hunter, 12 Jack Hocking, 11 Cameron van Wyk, 10 Isaac Coates, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Reuben Logan, 7 Freddy Douglas (captain), 6 Oliver Duncan, 5 Charlie Moss, 4 Mark Fyffe, 3 Jamie Stewart, 2 Seb Stephen, 1 Jake Shearer. Replacements: 16 Joe Roberts, 17 Will Pearce, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Bart Godsell, 20 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 21 Noah Cowan, 22 Matthew Urwin, 23 Jed Findlay.
