Junior Springboks prepared for England U20s in World Champs
Junior Springbok head coach, Kevin Foote says his team is prepared as they can ever be for their clash against defending champs England in their World Rugby U20 Championship pool match in Italy on Friday. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The Junior Springboks have put their fantastic start to the World Rugby U20 Championships behind them and are fully prepared for their huge encounter against defending champs, England, in their second pool match at the Stadio Mario Battaglini in Rovigo, Italy on Friday (kick-off 6pm).
Both the Junior Boks and England got their campaigns off to thumping starts, with the South Africans thrashing Australia 73-17, while the English downed Scotland 56-19, and both will be gunning to continue their top starts.
England won the competition in South Africa last year, beating France in the final, and also edged the Junior Boks 17-12 in the pool stage, so along with that and having watched them in this years U20 Six Nations (with them finishing second), coach Kevin Foote believes his charges are fully prepared.
Good look
'We have had a good look at England for some time now. We watched them closely during the (U20) Six Nations and we thought they did really well,' said Junior Bok coach Foote.
'They played games against Wales and Georgia in the build up (to the World Champs) and against Scotland (in their first pool match), so we've had some good insight. They're a big team and they're not world champions for nothing.
'They deserve to be there and have played some fantastic rugby. They've got a very good set piece, but also have some top athletes that we are aware of. They have good ability to move the ball, are a big offloading team and we know they are pretty excitable.
'So we have worked really hard on our game and how we think we will slow their ball down. But we do feel like it is going to be a great challenge and we are relying on our mental toughness in this game.'
The U20 Rugby Championship
Earlier this year in the U20 Rugby Championship (TRC) held in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), the Junior Boks struggled, losing to Australia (29-24) and New Zealand (48-45), while beating Argentina (36-25), so to overturn that result against the Aussies was huge, but Foote said they aren't getting ahead of themselves.
'Our preparation through the TRC really (helped) give us a great start to this competition. But it is just one game. The reality is that we are in a very tough pool and are playing the world champions now,' said Foote.
'So yes we are really proud of the guys and think it was a great performance, but from the second we got on the bus (after the match) you could feel that the guys were celebrating the result within themselves, and were ready to go (preparing for England) the following day.'
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