The Junior Boks take on Georgia for the fourth time this year, this time in the Junior World Champs in Tbilisi.
Junior Springbok loose forward Kebotile Maake in action against Georgia furing their U20 International Series match at the Markötter Stadium, Paul Roos Gymnasium, in Stellenbosch in May. Picture: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
The Junior Springboks are expecting to receive their toughest challenge this year against Georgia U20s when they take on the tournament hosts in their second match of the U20 Junior World Championship at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi on Thursday night (kick-off 6:30pm).
The Junior Boks and Georgia have already met three times this year, with the South Africans walking away with comfortable wins each time, but coach Kevin Foote believes they are in for their biggest test in front of what should be a very fired up and partisan home crowd.
But the Georgians have welcomed back a number of star players into their side that weren’t available against the Junior Boks, and even beat New Zealand U20s in a warm up before the tournament, so they should be a more dangerous team.
Physical game
“We know that they have brought back in quite a few guys that were playing in France, so we are expecting a very physical game,” explained Foote during the team announcement press conference.
“They pride themselves on their set piece and we know they are quite emotional about the losses (against the Junior Boks) and want to make things right. So we need to make sure that we control our emotions and really play the game that we want to play.
“We are playing them for the fourth time this year, so we are fully aware of what Georgia’s strengths are, and we are fully aware of how we want to play against them.
“They have made rotations and sometimes that takes time to settle down, so we are really confident given the squad depth that we have got and the combinations that we have been playing with over the last year.”
The Junior Boks toured Georgia in February and won their two games against the hosts 35-0 and 35-5, before hosting an international series in the Western Cape in May and clinched a thumping 57-14 win over them.
Despite those big results Foote doesn’t believe a single player will be complacent heading into Thursday’s encounter, as it is a completely different game in different circumstances.
No complacency
“We are so motivated and happy to be here playing in this competition. I don’t think anyone is complacent. We were all at the game and the guys got to watch Wales v Georgia and feel the energy of the crowd,” said Foote.
“So I would say we are nowhere near being complacent. The guys are actually quite excited and there are actually some good nerves going into this game.”
Georgia will also be desperate to bounce back from their tight one-point opening loss to Wales to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the tournament knockouts, so they will be throwing everything they have at the Junior Boks, but Foote says they will be ready.
“I have sort of played out both scenarios (in my head). What would have happened if Georgia won that game and how the crowd would be like. And now losing to Wales, they are probably more hungry for the win,” admitted Foote.
“So I’m not completely sure what to expect from this game if I am honest. All I can say is that we are going to focus on ourselves. We are going to play a game which we believe is very quick and very physical, because that is how we want to express ourselves.
“So we will have to see how they deal with that, but we are expecting quite a bit of emotion from them.”
