Baby Boks book top spot in World Champs

DAY THREE WRAP: South Africa ensured they will finish No.1 after the league stage of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship with a rout of Scotland at Stadio San Michelle, in Calvisano, on Wednesday.

The Baby Boks ran in 11 Tries in a 73-14 rout of the Scots.

It was the Baby Boks’ third straight bonus-point victory in the pool phase.

The South Africans also beat Australia (73-17) and England (32-22) to book their spot in the semifinals, and on Wednesday, they probably did enough to secure the top-seed position for the play-offs, scheduled to take place next Monday.

Playing with purpose and showcasing their silky skills, the first half belonged to the Baby Boks, who scored at more than a point per minute as they crossed the Scottish tryline seven times.

Jaco Williams (left wing) scored after four minutes when he launched a counter-attack from inside his own 22. Six minutes later captain and flanker Thando Biyela was driven over, with Dominic Malgas (centre) adding the third in the 13th minute after a sniping break and great run from the back of a great scrum by Ceano Everson (scrumhalf).

The bonus point try was in the bag in the 16th minute when Williams scored his second try from a line-out move and Oliver Reid (prop) added his name to the score sheet five minutes later from a maul.

Scotland pulled one back through Seb Stephen (hooker), but fullback Gilermo Mentoe’s try in the 31st minute, followed by Jean Erasmus (prop) crashing over four minutes later, pushed the Baby Boks past 40 points in the half.

It could have been 50 had Reid not dropped the ball on the tryline from a 30-metre rolling maul on the stroke of half-time, and from the restart after the break, Williams came within centimetres of grabbing his hat-trick as he just stepped on the dead-ball line as he dotted down.

In the next few minutes, Cheswill Jooste (wing) and Jaco Grobbelaar (lock) were held up over the line as the South Africans kept hammering away, as Kevin Foote (head coach) brought on the replacements.

The Baby Boks lost a bit of momentum as Scotland stepped up their game, but the men in green and gold were probably also guilty of becoming a bit too loose as they tried to stretch their lead.

They finally scored again on the hour mark as Everson stepped his way through the Scottish defence, and four minutes later Stephanus Linde (No 8) rounded off a brilliant team try that started from a counter-attack in their own 22, with the handling simply brilliant.

Everson scored his brace in the 71st minute to push the Baby Boks past 60 points as they grew in confidence, but Oliver Finlayson-Russell (replacement prop) grabbed a second for the Scots as they refused to give up.

However, Haashim Pead (replacement scrumhalf) scored his fifth try of the competition at the death, from a move that started with a scrum in their half, to push the Baby Boks past 70 for the second time in Italy.

*All the scores and scorers below …

South Africa 73-14 Scotland

The scorers

For South Africa
Tries: Williams 2, Biyela, Malgas, Reid, Mentoe, Erasmus, Everson 2, Linde, Pead
Cons: Moyo 4, Ian Van Der Merwe 5

For Scotland
Tries: Stephen, Finlayson-Russell
Cons: Urwin, Brown

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Dominic Malgas, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Ceano Everson, 8 Stephanus Linder, 7 Matt Romao, 6 Thando Biyela (Captain), 5 Morne Venter, 4 Jaco Grobbelaar, 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Oliver Reid.
Replacements: 16 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 JJ Theron, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Ian van der Merwe, 23 Demitre Erasmus.

Scotland: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Nairn Moncrieff, 13 Angus Hunter, 12 Jack Hocking, 11 Cameron van Wyk, 10 Isaac Coates, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Reuben Logan, 7 Freddy Douglas (captain), 6 Oliver Duncan, 5 Charlie Moss, 4 Mark Fyffe, 3 Jamie Stewart, 2 Seb Stephen, 1 Jake Shearer.
Replacements: 16 Joe Roberts, 17 Will Pearce, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Bart Godsell, 20 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 21 Noah Cowan, 22 Matthew Urwin, 23 Jed Findlay.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Tomas Bertazza (Uruguay) & Alberto Favaro (Italy)
TMO: Graham Cooper (Australia)

Wales 35-25 Spain

The scorers

For Wales
Tries: Wood, James, Davies, Wood, Penalty try
Cons: Wilde 2, Ford 2, Penalty try does not require a conversion

For Spain
Tries: Garcia, McNamee, Lendinez
Cons: Infer, Otamendi
Pen: Infer

Teams:

Wales: 15 Lewis Edwards, 14 Elijah Evans, 13 Osian Darwin-Lewis, 12 Elis Price, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Harri Wilde, 9 Ellis Lewis, 8 Harry Beddall (captain), 7 Caio James, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Nick Thomas, 4 Luke Evans, 3 Jac Pritchard, 2 Evan Wood, 1 Ioan Emanuel.
Replacements: 16 Jake Bowen, 17 Owain James, 18 Sam Scott, 19 Dan Gemine, 20 Evan Minto, 21 Sion Davies, 22 Harri Ford, 23 Jack Woods.

Spain: 15 Beltran Ortega, 14 Pablo Mateos, 13 Oriol Marsinyac, 12 Hugo Pichardie, 11 Jorge Garreta, 10 Lucien Richardis, 9 Nicolas Infer, 8 Manez Pujana, 7 Marcos Lopez, 6 Unax Salvador, 5 Liam Mcnamee, 4 Guardin Gonzalez, 3 Guido Reyes, 2 Pau Massoni (captain), 1 Hugo Gonzalez.
Replacements: 16 Marcos Perez, 17 Alberto Gomez, 18 Emilio Gutierrez, 19 Victor Ofojetu, 20 Marcal Carreras , 21 Nicolas Gali, 22 Gonzalo Otamendi, 23 Telmo Fisher.

Referee: Lex Weiner (United States)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland) & Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

New Zealand 69-22 Ireland

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries: Bason, Treacy, Roberts, Cole, Pledger3), Vaenuku, Kempton 2, Kunawave 2
Cons: Cole 6, Rico Simpson

For Ireland:
Tries: Minogue, Green, Bohan
Cons: Wood, Wisniewski
Pen: Wood

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Rico Simpson, 14 Frank Vaenuku, 13 Cooper Roberts, 12 Jack Wiseman, 11 Maloni Kunawave, 10 Will Cole, 9 Dylan Pledger, 8 Mosese Bason, 7 Caleb Woodley, 6 Finn McLeod, 5 Jayden Sa, 4 Xavier Treacy, 3 Robson Faleafā, 2 Manumaua Letiu (captain), 1 Sika Pole.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Kempton, 17 Israel Time, 18 Dane Johnston, 19 Aisake Vakasiuola, 20 Micah Fale, 21 Jai Tamati, 22 James Cameron, 23 Stan Solomon.

Ireland: 15 Daniel Green, 14 Charlie Molony, 13 Ciarán Mangan, 12 Jonny Scott, 11 Derry Moloney, 10 Tom Wood, 9 Will Wootton, 8 Luke Murphy, 7 Oisin Minogue, 6 Éanna McCarthy (captain), 5 Billy Corrigan, 4 Conor Kennelly, 3 Alex Mullan, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Alex Usanov.
Replacements: 16 Luke McLaughlin, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Tom McAllister, 19 David Walsh, 20 Bobby Power, 21 Clark Logan, 22 Sam Wisniewski, 23 Gene O’Leary Kareem.

Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Morgan White (Hong Kong) & Lorenzo Pedezzi (Italy)
TMO: Dan Jones (England)

England 36-33 Australia

The scorers

For England:
Tries: Treacey, Tuipulotu 3, Bracken
Cons: Coen 4
Pens: Coen

For Australia:
Tries: Conway 2, Sharples, King, Martens
Cons: Fowler 4

Teams:

England: 15 Josh Bellamy, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Campbell Ridl, 12 Nic Allison, 11 Tyler Offiah, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Kane James, 7 Connor Treacey, 6 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, 5 Junior Kpoku, 4 Olamide Sodeke, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 2 Kepu Tuipulotu, 1 Ralph McEachran.
Replacements: 16 Alfie Longstaff, 17 Oli Scola, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Seb Kelly, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Jack Bracken, 23 Will Knight.

Australia: 15 Sid Harvey, 14 Cooper Watters, 13 Liam Grover, 12 Malakye Enasio, 11 Nicholas Conway, 10 Joey Fowler, 9 James Martens, 8 Aden Ekanayake, 7 Tom Robinson, 6 Charlie Brosnan, 5 Eamon Doyle (captain), 4 Joe Mangelsdorf, 3 Edwin Langi, 2 Lipina Ata, 1 Finn Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Barrett, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Trevor King, 19 Ollie Aylmer, 20 Eli Langi, 21 Toby Brial, 22 Hwi Sharples, 23 Joe Dillon.

Referee: Jérémy Rozier (France)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (Italy) & Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

France 52-26 Argentina

The scorers:

For France:
Tries: Jabea Njocke, Donguy, Akrab, Leveque, Ibsaiene 2, Gourgues, Baret
Cons: Keletaona 6

For Argentina:
Tries: Ledesma, Rapetti, Coll, Otano
Cons: Senillosa 3

Teams:

France: 15 Jon Echegaray, 14 Nolann Donguy, 13 Robin Taccola, 12 Kalvin Gourgues, 11 Tom Leveque, 10 Luka Keletaona, 9 Simon Daroque, 8 Elyjah Ibsaiene, 7 Antoine Deliance, 6 Baptiste Britz, 5 Charles Kante-Samba, 4 Bartholome Sanson, 3 Mohamed Megherbi, 2 Lyam Akrab, 1 Edouard-Junior Jabea Njocke.
Replacements: 16 Quentin Algay, 17 Lorencio Boyer Gallardo, 18 Lenny Alifanety, 19 Corentin Mezou, 20 Mathis Baret, 21 Baptiste Tilloles, 22 Diego Jurd, 23 Fabien Brau Boirie.

Argentina: 15 Pascal Senillosa, 14 Timoteo Silva, 13 Pedro Coll, 12 Felipe Ledesma, 11 Bautista Lescano, 10 Ramon Fernandez Miranda, 9 Fabricio Griffo, 8 Santiago Neyra, 7 Pampa Storey, 6 Franco Benitez, 5 Tiziano Barrios, 4 Tomas Duclos, 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Tadeo Ledesma Arocena, 1 Diego Correa.
Replacements: 16 Jeronimo Otano, 17 Nicanor Rins, 18 Gael Galvan, 19 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 20 Tomas Dande, 21 Valentino Reggiardo, 22 Matias Cordero, 23 Aquiles Vieyra.

Referee: Marcus Playle (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (Italy) & Franco Rosella (Italy)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

Georgia 19-19 Italy

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Khakhubia, Spanderashvili, Shioshvili
Cons: Takaishvili 2

For Italy:
Tries: Zanandrea, Casartelli, Todaro
Cons: Todaro 2

Teams:

Georgia: 15 Luka Takaishvili, 14 Luka Keshelava, 13 Sandro Meskhidze, 12 Nugzar Kevkhishvili, 11 Tariel Burtikashvili, 10 Gigi Sirbiladze, 9 Giorgi Spanderashvili, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Andro Dvali, 6 Giorgi Ardzenadze, 5 Gagi Margvelashvili, 4 Temur Tshulukidze, 3 Mate Ghurtskaia, 2 Mikheil Khakhubia, 1 Bachuki Baratashvili.
Replacements: 16 Shota Kheladze, 17 Giorgi Turashvili, 18 Giorgi Meskhidze, 19 Nikoloz Chkhortolia, 20 Davit Baramia, 21 Temur Dzodzuashvili, 22 Data Akhvlediani, 23 Nika Abesadze.

Italy: 15 Gianmarco Pietramala, 14 Alessandro Drago, 13 Edoardo Todaro, 12 Riccardo Casarin, 11 Federico Zanandrea, 10 Roberto Fasti, 9 Niccolo Beni, 8 Nelson Casartelli, 7 Antony Italo Miranda, 6 Giacomo Milano (captain), 5 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 4 Mattia Midena, 3 Nicola Bolognini, 2 Nicolo Michele Corvasce, 1 Sascha Mistrulli.
Replacements: 16 Alessio Caiolo-Serra, 17 Sergio Pelliccioli, 18 Luca Trevisan, 19 Simone Fardin, 20 Piero Gritti, 21 Carlo Antonio Bianchi, 22 Luca Rossi, 23 Riccardo Ioannucci.

Referee: Katsuki Furuse (Japan
Assistant Referees: Tomas Bertazza (Argentina) & Morgan White (Hong Kong)
TMO: Graham Cooper (Australia)