Junior Springboks aim to build on Fiji performance against Argentina

The Junior Springboks will be looking to build on their impressive World Rugby U20 Championship opening win over Fiji on Saturday, when they take on Argentina in their second match of the tournament on Thursday night.

The Junior Boks got their campaign off to the perfect start, with a thumping 57-7 win over the Fijians at the Cape Town Stadium, led by a monster forward performance that thrilled the players and coaching staff.

But Junior Bok captain Zachary Porthen admitted after the game that they still had plenty to work on and that they would have to back up the performance with another strong showing against the Argentinians.

“It was a good game of rugby. The result went our way which was good, but there are definitely still a lot of work-ons for us,” explained Porthen after the match.

“I think we laid the platform nicely in the first half and the subs came on in the second and finished the job. So I am quite proud of the boys.

“Our set piece has been a big work-on for us and I think we showed that we have been working (hard) on it. We just hope that this carries on throughout the tournament.”

In last year’s championship the Junior Boks went into the tournament undercooked and then struggled, while they were heavily criticised for a poor forward effort throughout, however they still managed to pick up the bronze medal.

U20 Rugby Championship

This year they are much better prepared, having featured in the inaugural U20 Rugby Championship in Australia, where they finished second after drawing to New Zealand U20, losing to Australia U20 and beating Argentina U20 in their three games.

In their game against Argentina in Queensland in May they fought back from a 17-9 deficit at halftime to clinch a tight 30-28 win in the end, and they will be hoping for a more straightforward showing when they face them in Stellenbosch on Thursday.

Porthen admitted that they had made some good improvements since the competition Down Under, again highlighting the forward performance.

“Once again our set piece for sure (has been an improvement). And also getting our backs into the game and being able to move the ball around. We have been working on our skill and getting the ball moving and we did that,” said Porthen.

The Junior Boks will face much bigger challenges in their pool than Fiji in their next two games, against Argentina, and England who thumped the South Americans 40-21 in their opener, and they will need to be on top of their game in both those matches.