The Junior Springboks are aware of their pool of death for the World Rugby U20 Championship and that it will take a collective effort to reach the tournament’s playoffs.
Facing Australia, defending champions England and Scotland in Italy, they will have to win all their games to ensure that they make it out of the group stages to give them the best chance in the knockouts.
However, they have experience from playing Australia, New Zealand and Argentina recently in the Rugby Championship on home soil and they feel they are way more prepared for the challenge after a strong build-up to the competition.
The Junior Springboks will start the #WorldRugbyU20s campaign on Sunday vs Australia in Italy. Captain Riley Norton discusses expectations and dealing with pressure to bring a third title to SA after the #Springboks and Blitzboks’ trophy wins pic.twitter.com/7cluACOESf
— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) June 22, 2025
South Africa’s U20s are under some pressure to win the tournament for the first time since 2012, and after coming up short in two competitions hosted in the country, they are moving to Italy to try and turn their fortunes around.
With South Africa holding the Rugby World Cup and World Rugby SVNS title, there could be additional pressure on the Junior Boks to perform and bring a third title to underscore SA’s dominance on the international scene.
According to captain Riley Norton, they don’t view it as additional pressure to win but will take inspiration from the success of the senior South African sides when they start the tournament in Turin.
Kevin Foote on the #JuniorBoks‘ preparations: “The players have been in great spirits despite the hard push” – more here: https://t.co/XEeVyKMERS ✅#JourneyToGreatness pic.twitter.com/kORo9i3ZX7
— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) June 18, 2025
“We are going there to express ourselves, so I don’t think the pressure is on us,” Norton said.
“The team is well prepared, and we are backing ourselves and the gameplan. We are in an unbelievable position to play rugby and to inspire the next generation. That pressure is not something we look at.
“We know South Africans love winning and that will always be on your shoulders (if you represent the country), but we just want to go out there and do what we have trained and enjoy the moment.
“When we all enjoy it and love our rugby, that is when we play our best.”
These 30 players will represent the #JuniorBoks at the @WorldRugby U20 Champs in Italy – more here: https://t.co/WDYpzwIyw0 🇿🇦#JourneyToGreatness pic.twitter.com/JzvDGknUee
— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) June 10, 2025
South Africa came up short against the Aussies and New Zealanders in the junior Southern Hemisphere competition but learnt some good lessons for the international championship.
Norton pointed out that starting well does not automatically result in victory, and they will have to put in 80-plus-minute performances to be successful. They would start well and fade away, just to fight their way back into the game at the last minute. However, by then, it would be too late.
“If we want to play against the good sides at Under-20 level, we must be consistent. That was the biggest learning. We can’t start like a house on fire and lose our momentum. If we have teams under the pump, we must ensure we play like that for 80 minutes. It is something we looked at.
“We have looked at what didn’t go well in the Rugby Championship and fixed it in camp. We are excited to get going. We are in a competitive group, but that is how we like it; we want to play against the best.”
