Junior Boks out to finish U20 Champs on high note: ‘Time for talking done’

The Junior Boks are excited and keen to deliver a performance that will leave a legacy for the 2023 team when they face England at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town in the World Rugby U20 Championship third place playoff on Friday (kick-off at 4pm).

For SA U20 captain Paul de Villiers, the match is not only about winning the bronze medal but also for his troops to deliver a performance they can all reflect on in years to come.

Go out on a high

“We really want to beat England and finish on a high note – that will leave some sort of legacy for us as a team,” said De Villiers ahead of the match.

“We are still going out there to represent our country and people are still paying money to come and see us play, so we cannot disappoint them. We had our ups and downs in the tournament, but if we deliver a good performance on Friday, that is what people will remember.

“So yes, we are going into this game with the win on our minds.

“There are some mixed emotions now, this being the last time we have trained together (on Thursday), but emotions are not going to take us anywhere in the match.”

‘Time for talking done’

England have won the most tackle turnovers (18) – more than twice as many as South Africa (7) – in the tournament and they are the only team to have made in excess of 500 passes (520), but they have also conceded 11.5 penalties on average per match and have had four players sent to the sin-bin.

De Villiers was on the field in June 2022 when South Africa defeated England 30-22 in the Six Nations U20 Summer Series in Italy, but tournament history is not in the home side’s favour as England won the last five encounters before that.

No team has played in more third-place playoffs than South Africa (nine) and this is the sixth tournament in a row that they have contested the bronze final. They have won eight and lost once only in those playoffs, with their only defeat at this stage of the tournament coming against Argentina (49-19) in England in 2016.

“There is no room for that anymore, time for talking is done and we have one more opportunity to speak through our actions and effort on the field. That is all that really matters,” said De Villiers.