The Junior Springboks took on France for their final Pool A match at the Payaninni Centre, Verona. They continued their ascendancy in the u/20 Six Nations Summer Series when they convincingly beat France 42-29 making it three consecutive victories in the series and giving them the top pool position.
The possession and territory initially swapped hands from the start of the match. Both teams managed to set up good attacking opportunities in each other's quarter, however, poor execution with lost lineout throw-ins and handling errors prevented each team from scoring. The French opted to play the ball wide and used their big backline runners at every opportunity to try and beat the Springbok defence which they eventually did to score a converted try. The Springboks started to gain very good momentum in their attacking play as the half progressed. They dominated in the scrums and general forward play, which put the French under pressure, however, the French managed to score a driving maul try at the end of the half, which was followed by a penalty kick by the Springboks. The halftime score was 12-17 in favour of the Springboks.
The Springboks continued their good momentum play and ascendancy from the first half and converted their efforts into more points which kept them in the lead. A yellow card given against them opened the door for the French to score a converted try and kept them in the hunt. The Springboks however did not let the one-player shortage detract from their clinical attacking play and they scored again to further increase their lead to convincingly beat the French.
19:00 Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored a try for France opening their scoring tally after clever backline play which outplayed the Springbok defence. The try was converted by Leo Barre (07-00).
20:00 The possession and territory initially swapped hands from the start of the match. Both teams managed to set up good attacking opportunities in each other's quarter, however, poor execution with lost lineout throw-ins and handling errors prevented each team from scoring. France opted to play the ball wide and used their big backline runners at every opportunity to try and beat the Springbok defence which they eventually did to score a converted try.
25:12 Suleiman Hartzenberg scored a great try for the Springboks after the ball was collected and played from a clever chip kick over the heads of the Frensch backline. The try was converted by Sacha Mngomezulu (07-07).
28:51 Ruan Vente crashed over the try line for another Springbok try after good attacking pressure play by the Springboks on France's try line. The try was converted by Sacha Mngomezulu (07-14).
38:42 Connor Sa scored a try for France from a driving maul inside the Springbok try line. The conversion was missed (12-14).
39:52 A penalty was given against France inside their quarter which was kicked by Sacha Mngomezulu (12-17).
40:00 The Springboks started to gain very good momentum in their attacking play and dominated in the scrums and general forward play, which put the French under pressure and defending in their half. France did however manage to score a driving maul try at the end of the half after good pressure play.
41:04 A penalty was given against the Springboks inside their half which was kicked Leo Barre (15-17).
45:13 Ruan Venter scored his second try for the Springboks after good forward attacking play on France's try line. The try was converted by Sacha Mngomezulu (16-24).
52:50 A penalty was given against France inside their quarter which was kicked by Sacha Mngomezulu (15-27).
55:30 A yellow card was given against Junior Springbok player Juann Else for a dangerous tackle.
57:10 Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored his second try for France when they seized on the 14-man opportunity due to the Springbok yellow card. He converted his own try (22-27).
60:00 The Springboks continued their good momentum play from the first half and managed to convert their efforts into more points. However, a yellow card given against them opened the door for the French to score a converted try and kept them in the hunt.
61:01 Imad Khan scored a good try for the Springboks after they beat the French defence out wide. The try was converted by Sacha Mngomezulu (22-34).
65:21 A penalty was given against France on the halfway line which was kicked by Sacha Mngomezulu (22-37).
74:13 Lukhanyo Vokozela scored the Springboks' 5th try from another powerful driving maul. The conversion was missed (22-42).
77:29 Jules Coulon scored a consolation try for France. The conversion was missed (27-42).
Scorers:
Junior Springboks: Tries: Suleiman Hartzenberg, Ruan Venter (2), Imad Khan, Lukhanyo Vokozela. Conversions: Sacha Mngomezulu (4). Penalties: Sacha Mngomezulu (2)
France: Tries: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Connor Sa, Jules Coulon. Conversions: Leo Barre, Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Penalties: Leo Barre
Teams:
Junior Springboks: 15. Donovan Don, 14. Katlego Letebele, 13. Ethan James, 12. Suleiman Hartzenberg, 11. Imad Khan, 10. Sacha Mngomezulu, 9. Neil le Roux, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Ruan Venter, 6. Paul de Villiers, 5. Reinhardt Ludwig, 4. Connor Evans, 3. Sebastian Lombard, 2. Tiaan Lange, 1. Lamla Nunu. Replacements: 16. Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17. Juann Else, 18. Corne Weilbach, 19. Merwe Olivier, 20. Siya Ningiza, 21. Nico Steyn, 22. Duran Koevort, 23. Latica Nela, 24. Sivu Mabece, 25. Louw Nel, 26. Gcino Mdletshe
France: 15. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 14. Jefferson Joseph, 13. Emilien Gailleton, 12. Gatien Masse, 11. Ethan Randle, 10. Leo Barre, 9. Baptiste Jauneau, 8. Killian Tixeront; 7. Maxime Baudonne, 6. Noah Della Schiava, 5. Brent Liufau, 4. Samuel M’Foudi, 3. Eliott Yemsi, 2. Connor Sa, 1. Thomas Moukoro. Replacements: 16. Benjamin Boudou, 17. Pierre-Samuel Pacheco, 18. Robin Bellemand, 19. Theo Ntamack, 20. Leo Banos, 21. Jules Coulon, 22. Simon Tarel, 23. Mateo Garcia, 24. Montgaillard, 25. Nicolas Depoortere, 26. Max Auriac
Article by Francois du Toit
