Hits and Misses: Junior Boks on top and croc-rolled Fourie

OPINION: Rugby365 contributor Wynona Louw dissects some of the biggest talking points over the weekend.

From Iain Henderson’s croc roll on Deon Fourie to the Junior Boks’ clinching Under-20 Rugby Championship, the last few days had plenty of big moments.

We look at the highs and lows from the weekend’s rugby.

Hits:

Junior Boks Clinching Under-20 Rugby Championship…for real this time

After much confusion and premature reporting that the Junior Boks had clinched the title after their win over Australia last week, Kevin Foote’s side celebrated the real deal after a 29-29 stalemate with New Zealand in an entertaining battle on Saturday.

South Africa needed a solitary point to secure the U20 Rugby Championship and they got it courtesy of their fourth try early in the second half.

With a little over three minutes to play, the Junior Boks were reduced to 14 players when Jack Benade was yellow-carded for a deliberate knockdown with New Zealand urging towards the tryline.

The visitors were awarded a penalty try to lock the scores on 29-all, but that late blunder mattered not as the hosts had done enough to claim their maiden U20 Rugby Championship title.

The story continues below…

Piardi’s Laudable Performance

It’s not uncommon for weekend recaps to feature match officials in a negative way.

Just last week – following an absolute epic between Bordeaux Begles and Bath in the Champions Cup semifinals – a big talking point was the officiating, more specifically the television match officials and the reviews, with Bath coach Johann van Graan afterwards voicing his frustration, saying consistency is needed and questioning “why certain things are not picked up when you play away from home in France”.

There have also been complaints that referees shy away from making big calls and look to the TMO to step in, but in the Stormers’ game against Ulster, there could be no such accusations as referee Andrea Piardi took full control.

From awarding the Stormers a penalty try at the end after Nathan Doak hit Leolin Zas high while the winger attempted to score, to going back and showing Jurie Matthew yellow for an infringement in the build-up to Ulster’s try in the 74th minute, Piardi called the shots, and he wasn’t afraid to overturn one of his own calls. The TMO officials only intervened when necessary.

This isn’t praising a fish for swimming, it’s acknowledging something done well and highlighting that two things can be right at the same time; a game can flow and not be blown to death while the referee also picks up on and penalises the necessary.

Red-Card Redemption

In the Stormers versus Ulster game, Iain Henderson got a 20-minute red card in the ninth minute, and in the Sharks’ game against Benetton, Jacob Umaga also met the end of his feature when he was sent off in the 36th minute for a high tackle on Bok winger Makazole Mapimpi.

While those players did not feature in their respective games following their infringements, the bunker allows players given 20-minute red cards to be replaced, maintaining the competitiveness in games that would otherwise be lost if one team were to be reduced to 14 players permanently.

While it is still fair towards the non-offending team in that the offending team lose their starting player for the remainder of the match, it saves us from having to watch a game effectively end before the final whistle blows due to a team being reduced to 14 men or fewer permanently early in the game.

It’s probably the best change rugby has experienced.

Misses:

Croc-rolled Fourie

You only had to watch a single replay to see that Henderson’s croc roll on veteran forward Deon Fourie at a ruck not only caused the Springbok a great deal of pain, but also that the Irish lock was fully in control of his movement; there was nothing unintentional about what he did.

Yes, Henderson was yellow-carded, with his sanction then upgraded to a 20-minute red card, but it would be a bitter pill to swallow should Fourie, who has had quite a run with injuries, face a significant lay-off as a result of Henderson’s act.

Given the World Cup-winner’s age (39), any lengthy injury could very well lead to him bowing out, but even if it doesn’t come to that, his absence in the near future will certainly be felt by John Dobson and his crew.

For the game against Ulster, Dobson named Paul de Villiers as replacement hooker with Fourie starting at No.6. This allowed the inaugural URC winners the option to shift Fourie to hooker later on and bring the breakdown-hungry De Villiers into the loose trio.

While the extent of Fourie’s injury is unclear, the dangers of this breakdown blight are clear for all to see.

The story continues below…

“That has to be removed from the game!” https://t.co/DXFDJkoVTQ

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) May 9, 2026

Sibabalwe Mahashe’s disallowed try – nitpicking or necessary?

After picking up a loose ball at a ruck around the halfway mark, the Lions openside flanker showed absolutely no regard for Leinster’s defence as he sprinted half the length of the pitch, dancing out of one tackle and bumping off another defender to score what would no doubt have been the try of the match, but upon TMO intervention the try was disallowed, with the officials stating that the Erich Cronje was offside when dislodging the ball from a Leinster player at the ruck.

You can argue that it was an act that directly led to the Lions’ try and was therefore rightly zoomed in on, or you can be of the opinion that it was marginal and wouldn’t have copped a second look if it had not occurred in the build-up to a try. You’d probably be right either way.

At that stage, Leinster led by a single score (14-7), and had Mahashe’s try stood, it could have shifted the momentum and the game could have ended differently.

But that was not the case, and Leinster ended up running away with it (in terms of the scoreline, at least).

In reality, the Lions’ performance wasn’t a bad one, and on any other day, it perhaps could have been enough to earn them a win.

It’s just too bad they didn’t get the points to show for their efforts.