Junior Boks remain grounded

 

The Junior Springboks beat the Aussies 46-13 to top Pool B and book a place against defending champions England U20 in the semifinals. Theron said he was pleased with his side's execution of the game plan in their pool decider.   

 

"This was our best performance so far. We did not start well against Italy, improved a bit against Samoa and tonight we gave a much more convincing display," said Theron.

 

"We did our homework on Australia and knew that they could be dangerous off quick ruck ball, so we contested well in that area." 

 

Theron said he does not want his team to get ahead of themselves after the performance and believes they still got plenty to achieve in their own game.

 

"We don't want to say that are sending a message. We want to focus on our protocols and what we want to achieve. The guys will keep their feet on the ground because they know we still got to work," he added.

 

Captain and No.8 Hanro Liebenberg praised his forwards for a huge performance.

 

"We dominated upfront and that allowed our backs to come into the game," said Liebenberg.

 

"We scored some very good tries and I think the backs can be pleased with the platform that the pack created for them. 

 

"There were still a few errors that we not happy about, but we now have a couple of days to prepare for our next match."

 

Liebenberg said his team's willingness to hold onto the ball was key in their dominant display on Wednesday. 

 

"I think they reacted to the fact that we said we must keep ball in hand and build phases and I think they did that excellently. 

 

"That is what pulled us through, keeping ball in hand and sticking to our structures and at the end of the day the scoreboard showed it," Liebenberg added.

 

The squad's medical team were due to assess flyhalf Brendan Thomson on Thursday morning after the No.10 left the field in the second half because of a knock on the shoulder.