The Junior Springboks were simply not good enough against Italy, and now their final pool match against Argentina is a must-win to stay in the hunt for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship title.
South Africa was outclassed in the set pieces by the Italians and paid for their ill-discipline and inaccuracies in a wet and muddy game in Paarl with the passionate visitors taking the match 34-26.
“We’ve lost one now and the next one is a must-win,” Bafana Nhleko, SA Under-20 coach, said after the match on Thursday.
“We are extremely disappointed and were not good enough. Obviously, Italy was much better than us, had much better execution and we put ourselves under massive pressure.
“But the important thing is, we have an opportunity (against Argentina) and it’s about us and how we decide to react to that opportunity.
“It is a tight tournament, it was always going to be one. Every country has good pathway systems now. We sort of knew it, and it makes it exciting for everyone.”
Nhleko says the Junior Boks will regroup and set their focus on getting past Argentina on Wednesday in Athlone. A win will increase their chances of making the playoffs, but other factors like bonus points and points difference may come into play that could hamper their chances of progressing.
“We are (still) alive. Our first priority is to try and win. The other things then sort of look after themselves.
“If you start chasing the tries and points difference you are going down the wrong rabbit hole. We need to win. If that happens, we have a good chance of topping the log, and then the points difference comes into play.”
Junior Bok captain Paul de Villiers said his team was hurting after the loss, but they will look at what needs to be fixed for Argentina.
Their inability to front up to strong set-piece teams is a current struggle for the side.
“Going forward, we will see what Argentina brings to the table. They’re a proud and passionate country that gets a lot of energy out of their set piece. We’ll dig a bit deeper and work on those aspects ahead of the next game.“
Italy captain David Odiase spoke passionately after his famous first victory over the Junior Boks.
His side was on the backfoot going into the second half, but they were fired up and took the game by the scruff of the neck when play restarted.
“I am very proud of my team. I can’t believe what we have done,” Odiase said.
“We said to just keep dreaming and to keep to our goals. We know that a match is long and lots of things can happen, so we had to stick to our purpose and keep on believing. We stuck to our purpose which is why we have arrived at where we are now. We don’t give up, we are Italians.”
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport
