By Lucky Maree
When the Cape Winelands are beautiful, they are magnificent – but yesterday was not one of those days. The main feature of round two of the Under 20 World Championships was the rain. When a Welsh player was asked what the toughest part of the match was, he responded instantly. “The weather,” he said – and the Welsh know all about weather. Welcome to winter in the Western Cape.
➤ Whether it means anything that South Africa lost to Italy, is debatable. Perhaps it simply means that the bigger South Africans sank 12 inches into the mud while the lighter Italians only went down six inches.
What is clear is that the South Africans, while resolute in their attempts at playing the game, showed no intent on winning the match. They ground out the very long 80 minutes of the match at Paarl Gimnasium with total commitment and conviction without shedding a single tear, and that, given the conditions, is seriously commendable.
However, if they gave any thought to actually winning the match, it didn’t show.
Italy on the other hand, playing in the same conditions knew why they were there.
The Junior Boks did have a few rare moments of brilliance – but they were moments to savour.
Centre Kat Letebele’s beautiful try under the posts seemed so easy that it begged the question of why they didn’t do it all day long. Jurenzo Julius scored in the far corner after a perfectly weighted kick from Imad Khan. You might want to watch the match again if you want to see a future Springbok in action. Damian Marcus’ coast to coast try under the posts will be a highlight of the tournament. Hooker Juann Els ran right through the Italian forwards to score without a single Italian in the frame.
➤ Georgia’s match against Argentina, proved what we suspected after round one. Beating Argentina is already significant, but leaving Argentina scoreless, proves that Georgia is a hard bunch who play a tough, passionate brand of rugby. Scoring two unanswered tries against any team is an achievement, to do it against Argentina is memorable.
➤ Australia would have fancied their chances against Ireland and in the first half they looked the part. After halftime with Ireland leading by 11-10, the match could still go either way, but that changed quickly when Ireland scored three tries to add to their first and achieve what turned out to be a comfortable win.
➤ England’s methodical dismantling of Fiji shows that the Fijians, much as they love the game, do not have the depth as a rugby playing nation to compete at the lower levels. What does it tell us about England if they can score seven tries to one against Fiji? Wait until the World Cup.
➤ France is building up momentum towards the World Cup and it is being displayed in the way the juniors are playing. In what was supposed to be one of the needle matches of the tournament, New Zealand rolled over and played dead, conceding five tries and scoring only one. France is coming to the boil at exactly the right time.
➤ The way Japan never give up, is always a joy to watch. Sure, they lost, as expected to Wales, conceding six tries, but they scored three tries themselves. Expecting Japan to win is almost always a foregone conclusion (unless they’re playing the Springboks), but watching them play is always exciting.
Pool A
France 35-14 New Zealand
Wales 41-19 Japan
Pool B
Australia 10-30 Ireland
England 53-7 Fiji
Pool C
South Africa 26-34 Italy
Argentina 0-20 Georgia
Image source: World Rugby
Italy celebrate a stunning victory against the Junior Boks in a Western Cape mud bath
