Junior Springboks go down fighting against Australia

• Published date: 08 May 2024
• Publication title: Herald, The (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)

The first half was a tense affair as both teams threw everything at one another on attack, but a combination of the tenacious defence and the wet ball denied them from capitalising on a few try-scoring chances

Australia came out firing in the opening minutes, applying solid pressure on the Junior Boks close to their try line, but they were held out as the South Africans defended with determination.

They also showed good enterprise on attack throughout the half — though handling errors denied them in the opening 30 minutes.

A red card for Junior Bok prop Mbasa Maqubela in the 20th minute for charging into a ruck dangerously did not assist their cause, and this paved the way for Australia to open the scoring in the 28th minute with a penalty goal.

Despite being a man down, the SA U20s forced their way close to the try line and managed to crash over the chalk, but the ball was held up.

This did not stop them from scoring their first points of the match two minutes later from intense pressure by their forwards, and the rewards followed, with captain JF van Heerden dotting down the ball for their first try.

The conversion by Thurlon Williams pushed them 7-3 up.

This was short-lived though as Shane Wilcox scored for the opposition three minutes later from a maul, and this handed them a 10-7 lead.

The Australians had an opportunity to add an extra three with a penalty goal on the stroke of halftime, but the attempt went wayward, which saw them enter the break with a narrow three-point lead.

With the 20-minute red card in play, the Junior Boks were restored to 15 men in the second half, and this injected a new energy into their attack, but...