‘Talent and depth is Junior Boks’ super power,’ says Foote after U20 Rugby Champs triumph

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote was a pleased man after his charges secured the U20 Rugby Championship title for the first time with a 29-all draw against the Junior All Blacks in their final match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday.

It concluded an unbeaten tournament, after big wins over Argentina U20s and Australia U20s in their opening two matches, but they will be slightly disappointed they couldn’t conclude a clean sweep of wins after leading 29-15 early in the second half on Saturday.

Despite the slight blip, the Junior Boks are still in a great space ahead of the World Rugby Junior World Championship starting in Georgia next month, with their performances in this tournament standing them in good stead.

They also have a few players featuring in the United Rugby Championship that are set to return to the junior fold ahead of their title defence at the showpiece event.

Happy coach

“I am happy where we are currently. We are so lucky to have this talent and the depth that we have. I think that is our super power, knowing we have a lot of depth and that is going to be important going into the world cup,” said Foote.

“It is exciting that we have some guys playing in the URC who will be back and joining us. But the guys who played here really put their hands up. I think the whole squad put in a massive effort.

“We have a lot of guys here who were in school last year. It is their first year out of school, and I think we have 11 guys in the squad who are still going to be around next year.

“We have one eye on this trophy, one eye building towards the world cup and of course we are still keeping the focus for next year. So I am really chuffed with the talent we have and I am excited about the guys who will come back and everyone will fight for their spots.”

The team does have a couple of injury concerns, with Cheswill Jooste suffering a hamstring injury in the Bulls’ win over Benetton at the weekend, Ethan Adams injured his knee against the Junior All Blacks, and Markus Muller and Luan Giliomee are battling injuries picked up for the Stormers and Sharks respectively.

Looking ahead

Junior Bok captain Riley Norton was already looking ahead to the next assignment, but admitted that his team would enjoy their success before getting right back down to business.

“This draw was bittersweet, but I told the guys that they can be unbelievably proud of how they represented themselves and the Junior Bok jersey,” said Norton.

“I think we have left this competition in a better place than we did last year. We will now work towards the World Cup.”

“This draw will teach us a lot more than if we had just won, and is the best thing we could have had as we head into our next camp. It is time to work even harder now before the World Cup and we want to make South Africa proud.”