Junior Boks want to make a statement in bronze play-off

ALTHOUGH they disappointed by failing to reach the final of the IRB Junior World Cup‚ the Junior Boks are still set to end the tournament with a bang.

Coach Dawie Theron’s side went down 20-28 to England in the semifinal of the tournament on Monday night. Now the SA under-20 side is eyeing the bronze medal that is still up for grabs in the tournament being held in Italy.

England will face New Zealand in the final‚ and the Junior Boks will be up against France in the third and fourth place play-off match at 6.30pm on Saturday.

“I think we learnt an important lesson [from the experience at the tournament]‚ and we should go back to the drawing board to look for solutions and come back stronger‚” a disappointed Theron said while trying to remain positive.

“I think we can do it. What I said to the boys is that if they want to look back on this tournament and finish on a high‚ then we need to play some very good rugby in the next one and make a statement — show that we can play.”

After having dominated in the pool stages‚ where the side ended as top finishers‚ leading Pool B with wins over hosts Italy‚ Samoa and Australia‚ the side found it tough in the semi against the English side they lost the title to in last year’s final.

From the first whistle things did not go the South Africans’ way with some dodgy officiating decisions from the referees. To rub salt into their wounds early in the game‚ they received two yellow cards in the first half.

Captain Hanro Liebenberg and lock Jason Jenkins both received 10 minutes in the sin-bin for high tackles.

In the time the two forwards were off the field‚ England sneaked in two tries. While the Junior Boks attempted a late resurgence‚ their two late tries in the second half were not enough to overturn the scoreboard.

“They (England) are a quality side‚ the defending champs. Discipline cost us‚ especially myself‚” a distraught Liebenberg said after the defeat.

“I just think things didn’t go our way. They put us on the back foot and made things very difficult for us‚ especially in the set phases where we pride ourselves. They did their homework very well.

“I think we are a physical side‚ and they took us head on physically. At the end of the day that was the difference‚ and that is why the scoreboard was the way it was.”

Theron was surprisingly not so cut up about the lack of discipline: “I don’t hold it against the two players that they received the yellow cards‚ it was just unfortunate.

“[This was] definitely not the result we had wanted. We were disadvantaged from the beginning — playing England with seven forwards for 20 minutes was massive hole to climb out of. I think that is what set the tone for the rest of the match.

“Having both players‚ who are our lineout jumpers‚ off was something massive to come back from; and I think the boys were a bit rattled. Things just did not go our way — some of the 50-50 calls did not come our way.”

– The Times, RDM News Wire