England whack jaded Junior Boks

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The Junior Springboks conceded five tries as they slumped to a 35-8 defeat against England in Coventry on Friday.

This hammering follows the Junior Boks’ shock loss to Argentina in Cape Town a fortnight ago and throws South Africa’s preparation for the U20 Championship later this year into disarray.

South Africa did well to stay in the fight in the first half, but they were swept aside in the second stanza. One pertinent area of concern for them since last year is their struggling scrum, and it came to the fore again in this match.

Fullback Josh Hodge scored the first try after a fine break by debutant Jake Morris. Prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye powered over from close range, and while scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse missed the conversion he would add a penalty to give the visitors an 8-7 lead.

But they relinquished that advantage when they lost Marnus Potgieter to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, and England scored from the resulting scrum from 5m out.

Trailing 14-8, South Africa were given an opportunity to strike back when England were also reduced to 14 for a deliberate slap down. But the hosts’ defence kept the Junior Boks at bay. As soon as England were restored to the full complement, inside centre Connor Doherty went over for a converted try.

By then South Africa were well on their way to defeat, but scores by Joel Kpoku and Izaiha Moore-Aiono added gloss to the scoreline for England and added to the Junior Boks’ misery.

England U20 – Tries: Josh Hodge, Olly Adkins, Connor Doherty, Joel Kpoku, Izaiha Moore-Aiono. Conversions: Hodge (5).
Junior Boks – Try: Asenathi Ntlabakanye. Penalty: Jaden Hendrikse.

England U20 – 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Charlie Powell, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Connor Doherty, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Rusiate Tuima, 7 Andy Christie, 6 Tom Willis, 5 James Scott, 4 Joel Kpoku, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Alfie Barbeary, 1 Olly Adkins.
Subs: 16 Ben Atkins, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Jon Kpoku, 20 Izaiha Moore-Aiono, 21 Ollie Fox, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Jack Reeves.

Junior Springboks – 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Jay Cee Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Caleb Dingaan, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Francke Horn (co-c), 7 Phendulani Buthelezi (co-c), 6 Dylan Richardson, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 JJ van der Mescht, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Fezokuhle Mbatha, 1 Nkosikhona Masuku.
Subs: 16 Dameon Venter, 17 Thabiso Mdletshe, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Jaco Labuschagne, 21 Sibusiso Sangweni, 22 Andrew Kota, 23 Sanele Nohamba.

Photo: www.englandrugby.com

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SA Rugby magazine