Junior Boks must stay wide awake for full 80 minutes, says Foote

Staying wide awake and maintaining focus for the full 80 minutes will be a work-on for the Junior Boks as they look ahead to their final U20 International Series clash against a physical Georgia side on Saturday, coach Kevin Foote says.

A rampant SA team, who are preparing for the Junior Word Cup, stayed on the winning track when they thrashed Fiji 82–25 at Wynberg Boys’ High School in Cape Town on Tuesday.

SA led 56-11 at halftime and ran in 12 tries against the outplayed Fijians.

Tuesday’s victory followed a runaway 97-0 win over Chile on the opening day of the four-team tournament in Cape Town.

Foote said while his team controlled large portions of the contest, there was still work to be done in maintaining focus for the full 80 minutes.

“We will make changes for the Georgia match,” he said.

“It’s been important for us to expose players and build depth.

“Georgia will be physical and passionate, and it’s another great step for us as we build towards the Junior World Champs.

“We’ve got a lot of depth in this group and players are really putting their hands up across the board.”

Junior Boks head coach Kevin Foote (Ashley Vlotman)

Vusi Moyo, who captained SA against Fiji, hailed his side’s growing maturity and cohesion after another big win.

“We spoke a lot this week about having a strong Test-match mentality and improving our maturity in how we manage the game, and I think that definitely showed against Fiji.

“The guys are excited for what’s ahead and to show how good this team can be.”

“I’ve learnt a lot from the leaders around me, such as Riley Norton and Esethu Mnebelele and I’m just trying to implement what I’ve gained.”

Moyo, who is in his second season with the Junior Boks, says their strong bond in the team ahead of the World Cup.

“We’ve got a special group and the bond in this team is something I really value and I am enjoying myself.”

Asked about a lapse of concentration at the end, Moyo said: “That’s something we’ll definitely look at.

“It’s an area we can go back and work on. But Fiji deserve credit as they tested us, and that’s important for our growth.”

Such was their dominance, that the SA U20s scored eight converted tries before the break, with Luan Giliomee crossing in the second and 41st minutes, while Gert Kemp was driven over twice from lineouts, with the Fijians providing hardly any resistance.

Quintin Potgieter also scored from a lineout drive before Christian Vorster and Luke Cannon added their names to the first-half score sheet to make it 28-5 after 21 minutes.

JD Hattingh’s 37th minute maul try was almost a carbon copy of Kemp’s two efforts in the eight minutes before, and to add insult to injury, Moyo, the SA U20 captain on the day, was perfect from the tee.

Giliomee completed his hat-trick early in the second half and Moyo missed his first (and only) kick of the game, but it was clear the Fijians were given a proper half-time talk as they came out firing.

The visitors tested the Junior Boks’ defence and even won two consecutive scrum penalties, but their finishing in the red zone let them down.

Fifteen minutes after the break, the Junior Boks scored their second try of the half when Bongani Dlamini crashed over after some fluent attacking play, as the Fijian revival seemed to be over.

In the first match of the day, Georgia beat a resurgent Chile 59-26.

Scorers:

Junior Springboks 82: Tries: Luan Giliomee (3), Quintin Potgieter, Christian Vorster, Luke Cannon, Gert Kemp (2), JD Hattingh, Bongani Dlamini, Luann Olivier, Jaythen Orange. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (11).

Fiji U20 25: Tries: Suliano Savenaca, Apete Rokosuka, Penalty try. Conversion: Netani Lesimaimatuku. Penalty goals: Sikeli Bari (2).

Additional reporting by SA Rugby Communications