The Junior Springboks are through to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Rugby u.20 Championship after they scored a comprehensive 46-13 victory over Australia.
The bonus-point win placed the South Africans top of Pool B and they also finished first on the overall points table thanks to their third successive bonus point win at the tournament.
South Africa will now play England on June 15, at 20:30, at the same venue in Calvisano, while New Zealand and France will cross swords in the earlier semi-final slot at 18:30.
Dawie Theron, the Junior Boks coach, said he was very pleased with his side’s execution of the game plan.
“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. We did our homework on Australia and knew that they could be dangerous off quick ruck ball, so we contested well in that area,” said Theron.
He added that the medical team will assess fly half Brendan Thomson in the morning after number 10 left the field in the second half because of a knock on the shoulder.
Captain and number eight Hanro Liebenberg praised his forwards for an excellent performance.
“We dominated upfront and that allowed our backs to come into the game. 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,” said Liebenberg.
The top four teams on the overall standings are:
1. South Africa 15 points (93 point difference).
2. New Zealand 14 (83).
3. France 13 (61).
4. England 10 (-5).
The semi-final draw for 15 June at Calvisano is as follow:
18:30 – New Zealand vs France.
20:30 – South Africa vs England.