Latest news with #GinoCupido
IOL News
11-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Baby Boks lose to New Zealand to finish third in junior Rugby Championship in Gqeberha
JUNIOR Springbok wing Gino Cupido scored one of the tries against New Zealand in Gqeberha. | World Rugby 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)
IOL News
10-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Pead, Cupido back as Junior Springboks make key changes for U20 clash with New Zealand
Gino Cupido Gino Cupido scored the final try for the Junior Springboks against Argentina. Photo: WORLD RUGBY Image: WORLD RUGBY Only five members of the Junior Springbok squad that lost against Australia in the Under-20 Rugby Championship have been retained for Sunday's massive clash against New Zealand at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha (4.10pm kickoff). Junior Bok coach Kevin Foote continued the trend of making wholesale changes to his side in the tournament as the hosts push for a strong finish. The South Africans had started off with a come-from-behind win over Argentina, before falling short against the resurgent Junior Wallabies on Tuesday afternoon. Foote has included five players from the side that faced Australia for their clash against New Zealand. In the pack, loosehead prop Simphiwe Ngobese, lock and captain Riley Norton and No 8 Wandile Mlaba are retained from the side that fell just short against Australia. Vusi Moyo, who gave a strong performance against the Aussies, retains the flyhalf berth, while exciting attacker Cheswill Jooste will run out at right wing as the only backs starting again. Norton, Mlaba and Jooste will start their third successive games in the competition. The Junior Boks had a robust review of their match against Australia, and have worked hard on those aspects of their game they have identified for improvement. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ They had trouble in the set-piece in the first half against Argentina, but were largely improved in that facet of play against the Wallabies. The breakdown was a source of frustration for Foote, however. The #JuniorBoks are determined to finish the #TRCU20 on a positive note against New Zealand in Gqeberha tomorrow - more here: more here: 🇿🇦#JourneyToGreatness — SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) May 10, 2025 With the number of changes made, the Junior Springbok coach risks fixing one area of concern while opening up others. Players need time to build partnerships on the field, and the chopping and changing of players makes that difficult. The New Zealand U20 side have proven expert at exploiting any weakness in the opposition ranks, as they showed with their thrashing of Argentina in their last match. If the Junior Boks don't gel from the opening whistle, it could be a long afternoon for the home side. Foote feels that his players will be up for the challenge against South Africa's biggest rugby rivals in front of what promises to be a big crowd at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. 'Obviously we were bitterly disappointed with not winning the Australian game, but there were some great learnings for us in preparation for the World Championship,' said Foote. 'I thought that our set-piece took a big step forward, and we controlled a lot of the game for a period, but there are aspects for us to work on, in particular our breakdown. 'We got turned over too often while some of the kicking patterns were out of character, which we look to fix and get some clarity around that.' From an attacking perspective, the return of scrumhalf Haashim Pead, who scored two tries against Los Pumitas, and fellow scorer Gino Cupido on the left wing, will be welcome. Cupido enjoyed a fine cameo off the bench, sparking the attack into life later on against the Australian side. Pead will be itching to show his pedigree once again, having been left out of the squad altogether. 'We're bringing some players back from the first game, while retaining some guys who played in the second game. That will bring some freshness to the match-23, and there is real excitement in the squad for our match on Sunday,' Foote explained.
IOL News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Slick backs, physicality sees Junior Springboks edge out Argentina in U20 Rugby Championship
Gino Cupido Gino Cupido scored the final try for the Junior Springboks against Argentina. Photo: World Rugby Image: World Rugby It took the Junior Springboks a wake-up call in the second half to get going in their Under-20 Rugby Championship opener against Argentina in Gqeberha on Thursday. A try shortly after the break by the Pumitas opened a double-score advantage to them to place pressure on the South Africans in front of their fans. But three additional tries by the home team, thanks to some enterprising play between the backline and forwards, secured a 36-25 victory at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. SA are atop the Championship standings with four points after New Zealand and Australia drew 29-29 in the first clash on Thursday. While the visitors were first to score in the second half, it was the South Africans who comfortably dominated proceedings as their opposition tired as the match went along. Despite not dominating at scrum-time, the South African Under-20s made up for it with their physicality, and it allowed the backline to get running. Tries by scrumhalf Haashim Pead, his second of the match, after some entertaining play through the middle from captain Riley Norton and winger Gino Cupido out wide brought the hosts back into the game. For all three scores, the Junior Boks did well to use their mobility to get the better of their opponents. Pead and centre Demitre Erasmus got on the scoreboard in the first half. He did it for the Blitzboks and now he does it for the Junior Boks 🤌🇿🇦 Gino Cupido knows his way around a try line ⚡ 📺 Stream #TRCU20 on DStv: — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 1, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ A crucial penalty win went against Argentina in the 78th minute when they were right in front of the SA tryline. A score there would've set the sides up for an intense finish. But against the run of play, the South Africans won a scrum penalty, and it allowed them to exit comfortably to see out the final minute-and-a-half of play, despite Argentina not backing down as they went looking for their fourth try. The opening 10 minutes were a cagey affair between the two southern-hemisphere sides as they tried to feel each other out. The Junior Boks opened the scoring via a penalty before the equaliser came after they could not exit from the kickoff. A South African score afterwards gave them the lead again before the Argentines hit back with one of their own to tie things up once more. The home side's inability to exit was one of the areas that gave the Pumitas easy territory. They had a couple of nearly tries in the first half when some desperate defence by the Junior Boks secured a knock on over the tryline and another knock-on just as speedy Argentina winger Bautista Lescano stripped away to score was caught by the TMO. It was the perfect clash for the Junior Springboks and coach Kevin Foote to see where they are and what needs fixing ahead of the final two clashes. They struggled in the scrums and had some lapses in concentration on the attack. But it was the first competitive game, and they performed well when put under pressure in the first half. Points-Scorers Junior Springboks 36 – Tries: Haashim Pead (2), Demitre Erasmus, Riley Norton, Gino Cupido. Conversions: Kyle Smith (3), Vusi Moyo (1). Penalty: Smith (1). Argentina U20 25 – Tries: Pascal Senillosa, Bautista Lescano, Felipe Ledesma. Conversions: Rafael Benedit (2). Penalties: Benedit (2).
