Pretoria — South Africa is the only Southern Hemisphere side that scraped into the semi-finals of the World Rugby U20 Championship as the North’s France, Ireland, and England complete the top four of the competition.
The Junior Springboks will face Ireland at Athlone Stadium on Sunday in the first semi (kick-off 4:30 pm) as both teams topped their respective pools.
France, Ireland, and England are all unbeaten in the competition, while the Baby Boks lost to Italy on their way to topping pool C. They had to fend off an onslaught from Argentina on Tuesday, and were spurred on by a colourful halftime talk, to reach the playoffs.
It was a promising second-half fightback by the home team, and will certainly boost their confidence ahead of the clash with the Junior Irish side.
The Ireland camp suffered a tragic loss in Cape Town on Monday where one of their players lost a family member in a tragic paragliding incident.
Former Scotland international Greig Oliver, the father of Jack Oliver, Ireland under-20 scrumhalf, died in the accident as the Irish side a day later claimed a victory over Fiji that saw them clinch the top spot in pool B.
Bafana Nhleko, Junior Springbok coach, said they will have to prepare thoroughly for Ireland, especially with the short turnaround ahead of Sunday’s clash.
“We will look at Ireland and what they can bring. A little bit of what I’ve watched in general play (of them), they are playing good rugby.
“They’ve had some tragedies and setbacks which will give them a higher purpose. We are expecting another tough one.”
During halftime of the Argentina game, tough words were said to the Junior Boks after trailing 16-7 at the break.
“The halftime talk was colourful,” Nhleko said about what he said to the team.
“But they all know it comes from a place of love, and wanting them to be better. And outside of what it meant for us as a team, there was a lot more at stake from a pride point of view.
“It was quite important for them to understand that they needed to come out (in the second half) and give a performance worthy of that.”
He again lamented his teams’ frailties in the set piece and said they need to turn their slow starts around ahead of the Ireland game.
“It’s absolutely a concern (the slow starts). I can’t pinpoint it, I am really not sure what the reason is. Maybe we need to look at how we prepare for the game and our pre-match processes.
“The important thing is that they (the team) found a way (to win).”
France and England will clash at the Athlone Stadium in the late semi-final (kick-off 7 pm).
IOL Sport
