Dawie: Hard work awaits Junior Boks
South Africa came through their opening match at the Under-20 World Cup relatively unscathed.
The Junior Springboks started the tournament with a 33-5 win over host Italy in Calvisano on Tuesday.
Apart from a few bumps and bruises the team had no injury worries.
Lock Rudolph Snyman, however, suffered a cut above the eyebrow in the first half and played on after receiving the necessary medical attention.
Junior Boks captain Hanro Liebenberg and coach Dawie Snyman admitted that it was a slow start for the team.
"We are happy with the win, but we made a tremendous number of mistakes," Theron said.
"I felt there was a couple of players that really done well and a couple of players that let themselves down."
He suggested that it may be a good thing to start slowly, so that the players can keep their feet firmly on the ground.
"We have some things to work on and that is what we are going to do in the next three days – we are going to work hard."
In the next round of pool games, on Saturday, the Junior Boks will face Samoa in Parma.
"It was a rusty start for us and we have no excuses," Liebenberg said.
"Italy always play fast running rugby and did well.
"We can improve our line-outs and ball control, although the ball was wet and it was difficult conditions.
"We did better in the second half, but the first half was poor," the captain added.
