Following the inaugural Rugby Championship Under-20 Tournament which was won by New Zealand U20, a team of the tournament was announced which included three Junior Springbok.
Junior Springbok captain tighthead Zachary Porthen, lock JF van Heerden and loosie Batho Hlekani were included in the team of the tournament following the consistently brilliant performances of these three gentlemen.
The Junior Boks would have been happy with the victory against Argentina, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially at lineout time.
It was clear that several players who formed part of the SA Rugby High-Performance groups were unable to make the step up in Australia, with some lacking even the basic positional skills to secure a place in the U20 Junior Springboks World Cup group.
A draw to New Zealand (13-13), a loss to Australia (24-19) and following a last-gasp converted penalty by Junior Springbok flyhalf Philip-Albert van Niekerk sealed a remarkable 30-28 victory for the SA U20s to end second in the U20 Rugby Championship, four points behind winners New Zealand on twelve points.
U20 Rugby Championship Team Of The Tournament: 15 Benjamin Elizalde (Arg), 14 Will McCulloch (Aus), 13 Xavi Taele (NZ), 12 Ronan Leahy (Aus), 11 Stanley Solomon (NZ), 10 Rico Simpson (NZ), 9 Dylan Pledger (NZ), 8 Malachi Wrampling-Alec (NZ), 7 Bathobele Hlekani (SA), 6 Andrew Smith (NZ), 5 JF van Heerden (SA), 4 Efrain Elias (ARG), 3 Zachary Porthen (SA), 2 Vernon Bason (NZ), 1 Jack Barrett (AUS).