Hits & Misses: History-making Junior Boks and another Wales whitewash

OPINION: The first three rounds of the inaugural Nations Championship have come and gone, and while some teams will be looking to pick up where they left off when the competition resumes in the Northern Hemisphere in November, others will be eager to reach for the reset button.

In Georgia, meanwhile, the Junior Springboks went back-to-back in the Junior World Championship after defeating France in a classic in Tbilisi.

*Also read: Foote reveals why Giliomee didn’t play in JWC Final

From the Springboks toying with Wales in Durban to the bizarre and temper-charged Test between Argentina and England in Santiago del Estero, we look at the highs and lows from the weekend’s international rugby.

Hits

Experimental Boks blanking Wales

The Springboks denying Wales any points for the second Test in a row is impressive in its own right, but doing it with yet another recast team is a statement.

The Boks made 10 changes to the starting lineup that hammered England at Ellis Park, and while there were lots of points left out there thanks to handling errors and numerous opportunities not capitalised on, it was another frightening reminder of South Africa’s depth as they still put up 43 points despite a rather messy display.

Jaco Williams shined on debut, Ruben van Heerden passed the tallest of tests as he had to make a statement in a squad whose Rolls Royce pack is just one part of their luxury collection, and Vusi Moyo didn’t look out of place in the slightest, while Herschel Jantjies looked like he never left after being in international wilderness for almost three years.

Many teams focus on building depth and have to do it at the expense of results or be happy with modest wins while focusing on the bigger picture, but how the Springboks can hand out beatings while staying true to their goal is something else.

They have fielded three largely different teams in all three of their Nations Championship matches in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban, but they have managed to win every single one of those Tests in style.

Does any team stand a chance?

Continues below…

Wallabies shining in Schmidt swansong, avenging historic defeats

Outgoing coach Joe Schmidt could not have asked for a better way to depart the Australia head-coach role as the Wallabies secured their first Nations Championship victory by thumping Italy 57-10 in Perth.

Going into the game, the home team had suffered six straight losses, but they were on fire as they orchestrated their biggest win since 2017 and also produced a morale-boosting effort to avenge their last two defeats against the Azzurri, who went into the game boasting back-to-back wins over the men from Down Under after clinching a 26-19 win last November. Prior to this match, Australia had last beaten Italy in 2018.

While Australia were dominant and potent on attack, Italy didn’t make their own job any easier with rotten discipline and zero accuracy.

History-making Junior Boks

There’s a steep upward trajectory, and then there’s the Junior Boks.

Kevin Foote’s team made history by successfully defending their title for the first time ever. Last year, they ended a 13-year championship drought by defeating New Zealand in the Final.

While there were an abundance of try-line visits throughout the weather-delayed match, only two stood, with each team scoring a try apiece.

Markus Muller was the man to get the real deal for South Africa when he ran a stunner of a line to score the South Africans’ first try in the 66th minute after a powerful maul by the defending champions to put some space between the scores (13-5).

Calling it a fierce challenge is an understatement.

Both teams had numerous tries scrapped, both pushed each other physically, and ultimately, the difference came off the tee with Yaqeen Ahmed crushing any shred of hope France had of a comeback with one minute to go to hold onto the title they won in Italy last year, 16-5 after leading 6-0 at the halfway mark of the decider.

Kevin Foote’s squad have strung together the longest winning streak in Junior Springbok history, with 11 straight wins in the tournament.

To think this team was in silverware desert a couple of seasons ago.

Continues below…

Misses

Italy’s sideline shenanigans

As a scuffle spilt over the sidelines, substituted Marco Riccioni received a red card and was sent to the stands for running into the fight and getting involved, but other than having his pitch-side viewing experience taken away, the visitors weren’t really affected by the card, and it was more of a cautionary gesture.

Besides his intervention, having support staff put their hands on opposing players, be it to land a punch or hold them back while their own players attack them, is unacceptable, and Italy got away much too lightly. In saying that, how else could Christophe Ridley have handled it? After all, this isn’t something you see at Test level all too often.

Italy haven’t bagged a single win during the Southern Hemisphere leg of the competition, but they’ve managed to cop two red cards in three matches. Granted, they weren’t as poor as their recent record may suggest, but it’s the results that count.

Their players and support staff might want to focus on upping their game and cutting out the ill-discipline during the Nations Championship break instead of acting like hooligan fans at a third-league club rugby game.

It’s a pity seeing a team that can be devastating and highly entertaining against the best teams in the world when they get it right, falter in such a way.

Speaking of disruptive behaviour…

England’s continued Ill-Discipline

Tensions were always going to boil over in the final Nations Championship match of the weekend.

Even before kick-off, there was stirring.

Unsurprisingly, Henry Pollock was a main character in that rousing as he taunted Argentinian fans, shushing them and sticking his tongue out at them while on a bus in Buenos Aires hours before his country lost 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup semifinals.

It’s one thing to build a persona like a world-renowned enforcer or a dark-arts master on the pitch, it’s something completely different acting like a clown to get under fans’ and players’ skins even before kick-off. It lays the platform for everything you don’t want in a rugby match.

The soccer match Pollock and Co were en route to after their training session on Wednesday was an encounter full of off-the-ball antics, with Jude Bellingham seemingly slapping Valentin Barco and some of Lionel Scaloni’s squad unfurling a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (The Falklands are Argentine) in reference to the Falklands War.

And when Los Pumas ran out donning a replica of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup kit, when Diego Maradona scored the Hand of God and a solo goal minutes later to dump England out in the quarterfinals, it was clear that this Argentina-England rugby battle wouldn’t lack in tension, either.

Both teams were guilty of questionable conduct in the match that went well over time, with referee Angus Gardener raining the yellow cards on England, while Argentina – Tomas Albornoz in particular – practically charged at Gardner after Bautista Delguy’s score-equaling try in the 83rd minute was disallowed.

But it was England’s card collection that was the most eye-catching part of the game, which they won 31-24. And if there’s one thing England urgently need to address, it’s their discipline.

The match set a new record for the most yellow cards in a tier-one international match, seven, with Steve Borthwick’s crew getting four and Felipe Contepomi’s men three.

England’s card total has now risen to 14 yellow and one red card in eight matches in 2026. The only match in which they did not have a player sin-binned was last weekend’s won over Fiji.

Dismal.