Junior Springboks battle to opening U20 World Champs win over Georgia

The Junior Springboks were made to work incredibly hard but in the end prevailed to claim a 33-23 (halftime 20-7) win over Georgia in their U20 World Championship opening match at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday night.

It was an impressive performance from the Georgians as they battled back from a big halftime deficit to threaten an upset in the second half, but Junior Bok flyhalf Jean Smith proved the difference with a man-of-the-match performance on the night.

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Smith slotted all seven of his shots at goal, three conversions and four penalties for a personal haul of 18 points, and consistently made the Georgians play from deep with his booming boot, while punishing any penalty they gave away with big touch finders.

In the match the Junior Boks got off to a flying start as Smith knocked over an early penalty, followed by outside centre Katlego Letebele popping a superb chip over the Georgian defence, fielding the ball himself and going over for a converted score for a 10-0 lead after seven minutes.

Georgia however hit back six minutes later with their first foray into the Junior Boks 22m seeing them bash away on the line until flank Lasha Tsikhistavi crashed over from close range with flyhalf Petre Khutsishvili converting to make it 10-7.

The rest of the half belonged to the hosts as good work in the Georgian 22m from fullback Hakeem Kunene earned space for wing Jurenzo Julius to go over in the corner in the 23^rd minute, while Smith slotted the conversion and added a penalty on the half time hooter for a good lead at the break.

Strong fightback

A strong third quarter then saw Georgia fightback in the second half as an early penalty to Khutsishvili followed by an unconverted try to wing Luka Tsirekidze in the 58^th minute pulled the score back to 20-15.

A yellow card to Junior Bok flank Ghudian van Reenen in the 63^rd minute after repeated infringements, followed by Khutsishvili slotting the resultant penalty brought the Georgians to within two points and reduced the Junior Boks to 14-men.

However that moment seemed to spur them into action as Smith slotted two penalties, while inside centre Ethan Hooker seized on a Georgian knock on in their own 22m to canter over for a converted score and a 33-18 lead after 72 minutes.

But Georgia would not give up and a massive maul lead to an unconverted try to replacement hooker Nika Babunashvili in the 75^th minute to give them a chance of fighting back, but it proved to be the final points of the match as the Junior Boks held out.

Scorers

Junior Springboks: Tries – Katlego Letebele, Jurenzo Julius, Ethan Hooker; Conversions – Jean Smith (3); Penalties – Smith (4)

Georgia: Tries – Lasha Tsikhistavi, Luka Tsirekidze, Nika Babunashvili; Conversion – Petre Khutsishvili; Penalties – Khutsishvili (2)