Baby Boks beaten
A last-minute try by Argentinian XV reserve wing Rodrigo Ponce De León gave the touring SA Under-20 team an 8-7 defeat in their opening tour match played at the Lawn Tennis Club in Santiago del Estero on Wednesday night.
Heavy rain fell and both teams struggled to gain much momentum. As a result the first points of the game were scored in the 73rd minute of the game when reserve fullback Sebastián Poet slotted a penalty kick after the Baby Boks were penalised for an infringement at the breakdown. 3-0.
The South Africans hit back almost immediately, and with five minutes remaining in the match, Arno Botha crashed over the try line to score the visitors’ first points of the game. Botha’s five-pointer was converted by fullback Ulrich Beyers 7-3.
In the final minute of play, De León dived in at the corner to score his team’s only try of the fixture and snatch victory for the hosts.
The SA Under-20s scrummed well and were good in the line-outs, but struggled to put together many phases of play because of many handling errors with the slippery ball.
SA Under-20 coach Dawie Theron rested the likes of flyhalf Johan Goosen, centre François Venter, No.8 Siya Kolisi, flank Nizaam Carr, lock Eben Etzebeth, fullback Riaan Britz and scrumhalf Rick Schroeder for this match against the Argentinian XV. These players are all expected to be named in the SA Under-20 team for their first match against Argentina Under-20 in Santiago on Saturday.
Theron said afterwards: “We are naturally disappointed to have conceded a defeat in our first tour match.
“The wet conditions didn’t help us either, but it was the same for both teams. We obviously have lots of preparation that lies ahead. But to be honest, and without making too many excuses, for us as a team, it’s about building as a squad and gaining that valuable experience of playing against foreign opposition.
“This was definitely a huge learning experience for many of the youngsters. But I am reasonably satisfied with the rate in which the guys adapted to local conditions here in Argentina, especially if you consider that we arrived here late Sunday night and have had only two days to prepare for this game.
“We’re going to have to grow as a team as we prepare for the IRB Junior World Champs in Italy in June, and there are going to be bumps along the way. Let’s rather take the hits now than in June when there will be no excuses.”
The scorers:
For Argentina Invitation XV
Try: Ponce de León
Pen: Poet
For South Africa:
Try: Botha
Con: Beyers
The teams:
SA Under-20: Ulrich Beyers, Sizo Maseko, Michael van der Spuy, John Welthagen, Emil Schwarz, Tony Jantjies, Pieter Rademan, Cornell du Preez, Jean Cook, François Kleinhans, Wilhelm van der Sluys, Ruan Venter, Nic Schonert, Michael van Vuuren, Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: Mbongeni Mbonambi, Stephan Kotze, Carl Wegner, Arno Botha, Kevin Luiters, Wandile Mjekevu, Riaan Britz.
Argentina Invitación: Ramón Gonzáles, Diego Fortuny, Jonathan Marchetta; Matías Alemanno (capitán), Federico Gutiérrez; Gastón Baronetto, Pablo Quirno, Juan Lafontana; Ramiro Baronio, Martín Arregui; Rubén Farina, Javier Rojas, Nicolás De Battista, Álvaro Ludueña; Matías Moroni.
Replacements: Agustín Elías, Nahuel Verger, Juan Cruz Guillemaín, Pablo Matera, Rodolfo Ambrosio, Sebastián Poet y Rodrigo Ponce de León.
Referee: Ignacio Iparraguirre (Bueonos Aires)
Assistant referees: Carlos Pinto (Tucumán), Fabricio Campos (Santiagueña)
