The Baby Boks were beaten 48-45 by their All Black counterparts in the finale of the Rugby Championship held in Gqeberha on Sunday night to finish in a disappointing third position.
New Zealand won the championship, Australia were runners-up, and Argentina finished fourth.
It was a game in which tries flowed freely, with 15 in total, and the Boks scored three of them in no time to lead 19-0 within the opening 10 minutes.
SA coach Kevin Foote had included just five players from the side that lost to Australia earlier in the week, and the returning stars from the opening round victory over Argentina made the difference.
A brilliant start by the Junior Boks culminated in burly centre Albie Bester crashing over for a second-minute try.
The ultra-physical South Africans continued to clatter into the New Zealanders, and it was massive prop Simphiwe Ngobese who smashed over for his team’s second try. It was 12-0 after eight minutes, but the Bok youngsters were hardly finished.
From a lineout maul, hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele barged over and Vusi Moyo kicked his second conversion to make it 19-0.
The first chance the All Blacks got in the SA half, they responded with a well-taken try by left wing Harlyn Saunoa.
It was an epic opening quarter, with 24 points scored.
The New Zealand comeback continued with Saunoa’s second try and suddenly it was 19-12, but on the half hour, the home team struck back superbly with a try by wing Gino Cupido.
However, they would have been disappointed to immediately concede a soft try when their defence went missing to allow Kiwi hooker and captain Manumaua Letiu to score.
Cole missed the conversion attempt but the visitors were not finished for the half and Saunoa nailed his hat-trick at the hooter. This time Cole converted to narrow the score to 26-24.
It was Saunoa’s right wing counterpart, Maloni Kunawave, who scored early in the second half to give his team the lead for the first time, at 31-26.
The Kiwis accelerated into a 12-point lead when prop Sika Pole scored.
Junior Bok No 8 Wandile Mlaba superbly scored an opportunistic try off the back of a scrum to make it 31-28 and shortly after wrestled over for another. At 38-43, it was a one-score match.
That changed when Kunawave acrobatically scored his second try at the corner flag, and his team’s eighth.
Kiwi flank Caleb Woodley was red-carded for a dangerous tackle with ten minutes to go, but the Boks could not make the advantage count until five minutes from time when they earned a penalty try.
The scoreboard showed eight New Zealand tries to seven by South Africa, and this was reflected in the final score.
Scorers
Junior Springboks — Tries: Albie Bester, Simphewe Ngobese, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Gino Cupido, Wandile Mlaba (2), Penalty Try. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (3). Kyle Smith.
Junior All Blacks — Harlyn Saunoa (3), Manumaua Letiu, Maloni Kunawave (2), Sika Pole, Stanley Solomon. Conversions: Will Cole (4)
