Junior Boks ready to 'maul' Aussies
South African have turned their attention to their decisive pool match against Australia, at the Peroni Stadium in Calvisano on Wednesday, after retaining their unbeaten run at the Under-20 World Cup.
The Junior Springboks scored their second bonus-point win of the championship when they delivered a powerful forward display to beat Samoa 40-8 in Parma at the weekend.
The SA forwards scored three tries in the first half to showcase their dominance up front, while two more tries in the second half capped off a satisfying performance by the team – who will now face Australia on Wednesday in what will be a pool decider.
The pool winners qualify automatically for the semifinals on June 15.
Coach Dawie Theron said they will continue to rely on their pack to win games.
"We know that we have a strong pack of forwards this year and they showed what they can do," he said in his post-match reaction after the win over Samoa.
"We are working very hard on our line-outs and our driving mauls and got the reward.
"However, I do think we must hold onto the ball much longer and keep it under control so that we can get more points on the board.
"I think this team is a real quality team this year but we are not playing to our full potential and I would say we are playing at about 70 percent of where I want us to be. Our decision-making also need to improve.
"Our focus now turn to Australia who we face in our last pool match on Wednesday.
"We know they are a well-organised team and that match will be tough. We will prepare with two field sessions and do our homework thoroughly," added Theron.
Junior Springbok captain Hanro Liebenberg, praised his team.
"This was a much better show than against Italy in our opening match. Our set-pieces worked very well, although I think we can still improve in our line-out play," Liebenberg said.
"We will now go and study the play of Australia and do some homework on them to prepare for the final pool match," Liebenberg added.
On Sunday the Junior Springbok team doctor, Jerome Mampane, confirmed there were no injuries of note to report
"As a result of the physical nature of the game it means that there are a lot of sore bodies," Mampane said.
"A couple of bumps and bruises were reported but thankfully we have no time-loss injuries.
"During the next day or so we will focus heavily on the recovery process so that we get the players ready for our next match on Wednesday.".
South Africa (Pool B), England (Pool A) and New Zealand (Pool C) are the log leaders in their respective groups after two matches.
All collected the maximum 10 points on offer so far.
The pool winners plus the best-placed second team across the three groups qualify for the semifinals on June 15.
The remaining pool fixtures, on Wednesday, June 10:
Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana
England vs France (Pool A) – 16.30 local time (14.30 GMT)
Wales vs Japan (Pool A) – 18.30 local time (16.30 GMT)
New Zealand vs Ireland (Pool C) – 20.30 local time (18.30 GMT)
Peroni Stadium, Calvisano
Argentina vs Scotland (Pool C) – 16.30 local time (14.30 GMT)
Samoa vs Italy (Pool B) – 18.30 local time (16.30 GMT)
South Africa vs Australia (Pool B)- 20.30 local time (18.30 GMT)
