Jenkins SA U20's feel-good story
South Africa may have stumbled over the semifinal hurdle, but there is at least one feel-good story to emerge from the Junior Springboks' Under-20 World Cup campaign.
The emergence of Blue Bulls lock Jason Jenkins is one of the highlights of a tournament that failed to live up to expectations, according to SA U20 coach Dawie Theron.
He praised the emergence of Jenkins and also said good performances by props Tshego Nche (Free State Cheetahs) and Thomas du Toit (Sharks) gave the team good momentum in set pieces.
"Jason is a remarkable story," Theron said on Monday, after the team's return from Italy – where they won bronze at the weekend.
"I think he only started to play rugby in his second-last year at school and showed great promise for us this year."
Jenkins, in fact, played hockey and cricket at St Alban's College and only took up rugby at age 16.
Theron was also full of praise for other emerging stars.
"Thomas coped well with his switch from loosehead to tighthead, while Leolin Zas caught the attention amongst the backs," he added.
According to Theron the semifinal defeat against England highlighted a few valuable lessons.
"We will work harder with our future leadership group so that they are able to deal much better with adjustments on the field when things don't go our way.
"I especially liked the can-do attitude of the players and I am convinced that a number of them will go on and play good rugby at senior level," added Theron.
