The Junior Springboks were made to work extremely hard against a more physical England to secure a 22-15 win for the Bronze Medal on Friday at the 2023 World Rugby u/20 Championship hosted in Cape Town.
England dominated the early collitions and it was no surprise when they converted the first penalty after eight minutes of play to take an early 03-00 lead. However, the Junior Boks struck back almost immediately when following a quick tap the Junior Boks bulldozed their way over the tryline of England to lead 07-03.
The Junior Boks continued to dominate and scored their second try with another bulldozing run after sixteen minutes of play to lead 14-03 after sixteen minutes of play. Not to be outdone England struck back after twenty-three minutes of play when they stormed through the midfield bursting through several tackles with their hooker outstripping several of the fast-men of the Junior Boks to score in the corner to reduce the Junior Boks lead to 17-08 and fifteen minutes to play in the first half.
With three minutes to go the Junior Boks scored their third try from the back of a 5-meter lineout mall to go into the second half leading 22-08. The Junior Boks conceded two late penalties on their tryline which led to England scoring from the back of a lineout maul to reduce the Junior Boks lead to seven points going into the second half.
There was no score in the second half with the Junior Boks securing a 22-15 win.
Scorers:
Junior Springboks: Tries: Hennie Sieberhagen, Corné Beets, Juann Else. Conversions: Jean Smith (2). Penalty: Jean Smith
England: Tries: Craig Wright, Zach Scar. Conversion: Connor Slevin. Penalty: Connor Slevin.
Teams:
South Africa: South Africa: 15 Regan Izaks, 14 Jurenzo Julius, 13 Katlego Letebele, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Quewin Nortje, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Neil le Roux, 8 Corné Beets, 7 Hennie Sieberhagen, 6 Paul de Villiers (captain), 5 Tiaan Wessels, 4 Coetzee le Roux, 3 Mawande Mdanda, 2 Juann Else, 1 Phatu Ganyane. Replacements: 16 Samuel Kotze, 17 Corné Lavagna, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Abulele Ndabambi, 20 Gcinokuhle Mdletshe, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Litelihle Bester, 23 Michael Annies.
England: 15 Sam Harris, 14 Cassius Cleaves, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Connor Slevin, 9 Nye Thomas, 8 Zach Carr, 7 Nathan Michelow, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Lewis Chessum (captain), 4 Joe Bailey, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour. Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Ethan Clarke, 18 James Halliwell, 19 Finn Carnduff, 20 Tristan Woodman, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Joe Woodward.