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The Junior Springboks are unbeaten at the World Rugby U20 Champs, and are gunning to go all the way, with them up against Argentina in the semis.
Junior Springbok scrumhalf Ceano Everson makes a break during their match against Scotland U20s at the World U20s. Picture: Timothy Rogers/Getty Images
The double World Cup winning Springboks are backing the Junior Boks to go all the way and triumph at the World Rugby U20 Championship being battled out in Italy.
The Junior Boks are gearing up for a massive semifinal encounter against fellow Southern Hemisphere side, Argentina, at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana on Monday night (kick-off 8.30pm).
It has been a fantastic campaign for the Junior Boks so far, with them cruising through the pool phase unbeaten, after hammering Australia 73-17 and Scotland 73-14, while they also dispatched defending champions, England, 32-22, which in the end knocked them out of the semifinal running.
They now turn their attention to Argentina, who they beat in the U20 Rugby Championship (TRC) in Gqeberha a few months ago, 36-25, and they will be gunning for a similar, if not better, performance than that.
It has in fact been a terrific turnaround since the TRC, where the Junior Boks went down to Australia 29-24 and New Zealand 48-45, with their only win coming against Argentina, to finish third in the competition.
They turned that around spectacularly in Italy to thrash the Aussies in their pool encounter, and backed it up with their results against England and Scotland.
Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick, speaking ahead of their clash against Italy in Gqeberha on Saturday, praised the effort of the youngsters and backed them to the hilt.
Go all the way
“I remember watching them here against New Zealand (in the TRC) earlier this year. They lost that game and they also lost against Australia (in the same competition),” said Stick.
“So to see them now giving Australia 70 points, and also Scotland 70 points as well. What those young men are doing is great for us as a country and hopefully they can go all the way.
“I have been there (with the Junior Boks) in 2005. To win a Junior World Cup changes a lot of peoples lives, and hopefully those boys can also create those memories. They have already made us proud and we hope they can go all the way and become world champions.”
Springbok captain for the match last weekend, Salmaan Moerat, who has represented the Junior Boks himself, was also effusive in his praise for the rising generation of future Springbok stars.
“We are extremely proud of them and the way they have been playing. Especially the step up they made from losing against Australia in the (U20) Rugby Championship, to beating them convincingly at the World Champs really says a lot about them as a team,” said Moerat.
“You can see that there are a number of potential future stars who will become really big players one day, and we wish them all of the very best. We really are supporting them to go all the way.”
