‘Junior Springboks have a solid foundation’

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Junior Springbok assistant Louis Koen said the team had a solid base to build on ahead of their second U20 Championship match against Georgia on Saturday.

The Junior Springboks got their campaign off to a strong start on Tuesday with a convincing 43-19 bonus-point victory against Scotland U20.

Koen said they were taking the positives from that performance, but expects a far more physical encounter against the Georgians.

There were a lot of positives, and the most important one for us is that we created numerous try-scoring opportunities,’ Koen said. ‘We are also proud of our scrums, our conditioning and our finishing in the second half. The boys played 80 minutes of high-tempo rugby and that is what we wanted to achieve in that game, so I think we laid a solid foundation to build on.

‘That said, it was a bit frustrating not to finish some of the chances we created, especially in the first half, while they also wet the synthetic field 10 minutes before the match, which made the handling a little tougher in the first half.

‘We played warm-up matches against Georgia in the last two years, so we know what their strengths are. We have huge respect for them, especially their set pieces and physicality, but we are focusing on our processes and what we would like to achieve in the game.’

The squad suffered a blow before their second match, losing vice-captain and No 8 Francke Horn to a shoulder injury for the rest of the tournament. Janko Swanepoel has been flown in as a replacement.

Koen added that the players were in high spirits off the field, and that they were thrilled to participate in the international spectacle.

‘The boys are very positive and excited, and they are enjoying each other’s company. Rosario is a small city and we’ve not had much time to explore, but the players are spending a lot of time together, which is good.

‘We are looking forward to doing a few fun things together as a team as the competition progresses, but our approach to the tournament is very focused, and we know what we would like to achieve.’

Photo: Rodrigo Valle/Getty Images

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SA Rugby magazine