‘Our best is still to come’: Junior Boks target U-20 World Champs semis

Junior Springbok captain Paul de Villiers is eagerly anticipating his team’s third and final, must-win Pool C clash against Argentina in the 2023 World Rugby Under-20 Championship at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday (kick-off 7pm).

“We are well aware of what we need to do and that a bonus point win will take us into the semi-finals of the tournament, one of our objectives coming into the tournament,” De Villiers said on Monday.

“The reality is that this is a must-win game for us, and we are only going to focus on the processes that we need to take us to that win. We know the win is a must and four tries a requirement, but rather than look for outcomes, we will focus on how to get to that outcome.”

Argentina have the best all-round set-piece – the lineout is ranked first (93.3%) and they are one of only two teams with a 100% completion record, along with France.

Los Pumitas have also made the most kicks in play (58), executed the most 50:22s (two) and made the most carries (237).

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“They are a good side, in fact pretty much like Georgia and Italy when it comes to style of play, with all getting massive energy from their set piece and they love mauls and scrums,” De Villiers said.

“We coped with that in our opener against Georgia but did not do the same against Italy and we paid the price. Now we get another opportunity to right the wrongs and we are keen to embrace that.”

Better conditions

The skipper said the change in weather subsiding somewhat, following rainy conditions in the opening two rounds, would help them when they ran onto the Athlone Stadium pitch.

“It was a bit frustrating, to be honest, I know how good this team is and what we can do, but we have been limited by the conditions,” he said.

“Yes, all the teams have suffered because of that, but our backline is crying out for a decent surface where they can show their attacking abilities. I believe the best is to come and it will start against Argentina.”

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