The Junior Springboks annihilate Australia U20 66-17, in A Round 1 fixture of the World Rugby U20 Championship at the San Michele Stadium in Calvisano, Italy on Sunday. This is the biggest win over Australia ever, senior rugby included.
Australia started like a house on fire, with unforced errors keeping them from scoring as early-game jitter took their toll. However, the Junior Springboks started to attack from within their twenty-two and following several players' handling, Haashim Pead scored. Following a conversion by Vusi Moyo, the Junior Springboks led 07-00 after just five minutes of play.
Australian fullback Sid Harvey was assisted by the lack of willingness on the defence and scored in the corner to make it a two-point game after thirteen minutes of play.
The Junior Springboks attacked off the back of a five-meter lineout, and eventually, it was Herman Lubbe who forced his way over the Aussies' tryline. Vusi Moyo converted to extend the Junior Springboks' lead to 14-05 with fifteen minutes still to play in the first half.
Five minutes later, Haashim Pead sniped past the edge of a scrum in the Junior Springboks and offloaded to Siyabonga Ndlozi, who had an easy run to score the Junior Springboks' third try. Moyo is again on target to extend the Junior Springboks' lead to 21-05.
Haashim Pead exposed Australia's defence on the blindside, which eventually led to Siyabonga Ndlozi scoring his second try of the first half. Moyo was on target again, extending the Junior Springboks' lead to 28-05.
The Junior Springboks added a fifth try when Cheswill Jooste scored in the corner, beating Harvey with pace and great feet. Moyo added the extra two points to go into the second half 33-05.
The Junior Springboks continued their brilliant form in the second half; however, this time it was Haashim Pead who finished a great move to add a second try to his name on the scoreboard. Moyoy again converted to extend the Junior Springboks' lead to 40-05.
A mistake by Australia on the Springboks' tryline led to Gilermo Mentoe scoring after an eighty-meter run. Moyo was on target again, making it 47-05 after six minutes of play in the second half.
Two minutes later, JJ Theron added the Junior Springboks' eighth try followed by tries by Jaco Grobbelaar, Xola Nyali to extend their lead to 66-05.
Cooper Watters scored two tries for Australia during the final ten minutes of the match to cut the Junior Springboks' lead to 66-17.
The Junior Springboks scored an opportunistic try when Jaco Williams scored their eleventh try with time up on the clock to secure a 73-17 win.
Scorers:
Australia: Tries: Sid Harvey, Cooper Watters (2). Conversion: Sid Harvey
Junior Springboks: Tries: Haashim Pead (2), Herman Lubbe, Siyabonga Ndlozi (2), Cheswill Jooste, Gilermo Mentoe, JJ Theron, Jaco Grobbelaar, Xola Nyali, Jaco Williams. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (7), Ian van der Merwe (2).
Teams
Australia U20: 15 Sid Harvey, 14 Cooper Watters, 13 Xavier Rubens, 12 Boston Fakafanua, 11 Shane Wilcox,10 Joey Fowler, 9 Hwi Sharples, 8 Beau Morrison, 7 Tom Robinson, 6 Eli Langi, 5 Eamon Doyle (c), 4 Charlie Brosnan, 3 Trevor King, 2 Lipina Ata, 1 Finn Baxter. Replacements: 16 Ollie Barrett, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Edwin Langi, 19 Joe Mangelsdorf, 20 Toby Brial, 21 Aden Ekanayake, 22 James Martens, 23 Joe Dillon.
Junior Springboks: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 Albie Bester, 11 Siyabonga Ndlozi, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 JJ Theron, 4 Riley Norton (c), 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 1 Simphiwe Ngobese. Replacements: 16 Jaundre Schoeman, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Erich Visser, 22 Ian van der Merwe, 23 Jaco Williams.