The Junior Springboks continued their preparations for the forthcoming tour of Georgia with another rigorous training match, on Thursday afternoon against Maties at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, using their full squad to clock game time against the experienced FNB Varsity Cup campaigners.
With the mid-February tour to Georgia looming, this was their second hit-out this week, following Monday’s session at the home of FNB Varsity Cup holders UCT.
The SA U20S managed to score seven tries to four against Maties, who also used the training occasion to make a raft of rotational changes in a bid to give game time to their wider squad as preparation for their season, which kicks off in two weeks’ time.
Under the guidance of Kevin Foote, the Junior Boks won the Junior World Championship last year for the first time since 2012, with the head coach expressing the desire to be successful again, whilst also emphasising that the class of 2026 is a completely different group.
“Look, the hunger to repeat that success is definitely there –that’s the number one thing for all of us – but we see this as a whole new journey,” Foote explained on the sideline at the Danie Craven Stadium afterwards.
“We have six guys (of the 2025 world champion team) back, which is fantastic for continuity, but we also have 18 new players. There is a great synergy regarding how we want to play, but we aren't getting ahead of ourselves. We have an experienced coaching staff now and a clear understanding of the environment we want to create for 2026.”
A third training match, against UCT next Tuesday in Stellenbosch, is on the cards, with Foote highlighting the importance of playing together as a group in the build-up towards the international season, which will see them in action in late April in the U20 Rugby Championship before defending their U20 world title in June and July in Georgia.
“One of the things we need to get right to be successful is to play a lot of rugby together,” said Foote.
“The Six Nations teams play regularly in a tough, competitive environment. For us, these training games against the likes of UCT and Maties are vital because they allow us to start building combinations and test our game model before we hit the international stage.”
One of the dynamics of age-group rugby is that the majority of players move on constantly, and in this regard, the Junior Boks have lost a significant amount of experience in the pack, specifically amongst the loose forwards.
Foote explained how he and his coaching staff are managing that transition: “We’ve lost some big names from last year, but I believe we’ve built incredible depth, and the new guys have slotted right in. They are physical, and they want to play a great brand of rugby. We have a culture where we choose based on skill and a 'coachable' attitude, so the transition feels seamless.
“We are very blessed with the talent coming through the schools and the SA U18S. If you look at our centres, for instance, we have guys like Pieter van der Merwe, Markus Miller, Ethan Adams, Christian Vorster and Samuel Badenhorst here with us. They’re expressing themselves, which is exactly what we want to see.”