Suleiman Hartzenberg scored two tries as the Junior Springboks opened their account at the U20 Summer Series with a hard-fought victory over England U20 in Verona on Friday.

Having led 10-7 at half-time, the Junior Boks produced a clinical second-half performance to claim a 30-22 victory in the opening round of the U20 Summer Series in Italy.

A tight first half saw South Africa open their account in the second minute when the ball sat up perfectly for Hartzenberg in the left corner from a reverse kick by flyhalf Sacha Mngomezulu and the winger powered through a tackle to score.

England responded with a try from hooker John Stewart after flanker Siya Ningiza was yellow-carded for what was judged to have been a deliberate knock on to snuff out an England attack.

The Junior Springboks had to see out phase after phase of attack when they were down to 14 men in the first half, but did take the lead just before the break when fullback Duran Koevort and wing Donovan Don combined to put scrumhalf Nico Steyn over the tryline.

It was minutes into the second half when No 8 Cameron Hanekom burst across the tryline after a linebreak engineered by Koevort and Mngomezulu.

Hartzenberg’s second try put South Africa in the driving seat (22-10), but England cut the deficit to five points when flank Emeka Ilione scored.

Mngomezulu held his nerve to nail a penalty and put the Junior Boks eight points ahead, before replacement hooker Tiaan Lange scored from short range in the final 10 minutes of the match.

While England snatched a late consolation try through Conor Oresanya, the Junior Boks held on for the win.

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