Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote says winning the U20 Rugby Championship would mean a lot to the team, as they head into their final match of the competition against the Junior All Blacks at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday (kick-off 4:10pm).
Foote has already led the Junior Boks to the Junior World Rugby Championship title, in Italy last year, and his charges are now on the verge of picking up another piece of major silverware.
The Junior Boks finished runners-up in the first edition of the U20 Rugby Championship in Australia in 2024, and third last year on home soil, so are eager to finally lift the trophy over their Southern Hemisphere rivals.
‘Mean a lot’
“It would mean a lot to us. Last year Riley (Norton, Junior Bok captain) and I came into this tournament and we remember leaving feeling quite disappointed in not making the country proud,” said Foote at Thursday’s team announcement.
“So we really want to play well come Saturday. It’s a big game, we are playing against the All Blacks. They are a very good side, there is a strong tradition between the two countries, and we know we want to finish the tournament really well.”
The Junior All Blacks are double defending champions and could still spoil the party, if they were to clinch a bonus point win and not allow the Junior Boks a losing bonus point, while Argentina U20s lose or beat Australia U20s without a bonus point, they would retain the title.
The Junior Boks themselves were subject to a bit of points confusion after it was announced that they had won the tournament after their big win over Australia, only for it to be clarified a day later that the bonus point structure for this year’s edition had changed, which kept the competition alive.
Handled well
“After the game the media told us we had won the tournament and I thought Riley handled that really well. He said that (winning the title) wasn’t really our focus, which has been to play well here for three games,” explained Foote.
“So I think the guys have responded really well. We didn’t make a big thing about the points, it isn’t something that is in our control, we were told New Zealand were on five and we are on 10.
“We have prepared really well for this tournament, so we just want to keep getting better in our game. I think the guys have already shown in the games against Argentina and Australia that we are on the right track and we just want to take it a step further against New Zealand.”
Although the weather for Saturday is predicted to be sunny, conditions could also be tricky, with a lot of rain having fallen in Gqeberha over the week.
“We actually trained in the rain on Wednesday. We just want to play in any conditions and control what we can. Obviously the field is sand based and even in the last game it gets quite sticky at times and the ball with that sand can get quite slippery on the ground,” said Foote.
“So there are a couple of things that we brought to our attention. But we are not too concerned about the weather. We are just going to go out there and play the style of rugby that we want to play and control the things that we can.”
