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The South African
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Triumphant Junior Springboks receive warm welcome in SA
The Junior Springboks, under the leadership of head coach Kevin Foote, ended a 13-year wait to reclaim the global Under-20 crown with a 23-15 victory over the Junior All Blacks in the summer heat of Rovigo on Saturday. The Junior Springboks last won the title in 2012 with a home victory over the same opponents in Cape Town, but had had a long wait for a repeat success having not appeared in another final since 2014. This time the team showed great composure in cruising to the final with commanding victories over Australia (73-12), England (32-22) and Scotland (73-14) in the pool stages, and Argentina (48-24) in the semi-final. They led in the final from the third minute and tries by Xola Nyali and Gilermo Mentoe, as well as 13 points from the boot of Vusi Moyo, secured a famous victory. Moyo finished the tournament as the top points' scorer with 63, while Haashim Pead scored six tries, placing him second for the most five-pointers behind Georgia's Mikheili Shioshvili (7). On Monday, the team returned to South Africa, and received an understandably warm welcome by cheering fans and Mark Alexander, president of the South African Rugby Union. 'This is a very proud day for rugby in South Africa, and I would like to congratulate Kevin and the team on an outstanding performance in the tournament,' said Mr Alexander. 'The group have been welded into a formidable unit over the course of this year and many of them have the potential to go on to higher honours, I am sure. 'Their victory is a tribute to all the hard work done at high school level by educators and coaches, and at our provincial unions from whom these players are drawn. 'Appointing a head coach in Kevin, who has franchise experience, was also an important part of the progress this group have shown, and I would like to commend him, his backroom team, and the High Performance Department at SA Rugby for what they have achieved in such a short space of time. 'I'd also like to thank our sponsors who have come on board to partner the Junior Boks and with whom we are delighted to share in their success.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
21-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote still in 'pinch me, wake me up' land after historic U20 triumph
The Junior Springboks and their coaching staff celebrate winning the World Rugby U20 Championship on Saturday in Italy. Image: Maurilio Boldrini / World Rugby Junior Springbok head coach Kevin Foote says he must still pinch himself at what the team achieved as they arrived back in South Africa with the World Rugby Under-20 Championship title. The Baby Boks defeated the Junior All Blacks 25-13 in the final on Saturday in Italy to claim a second title after years of coming close. Foote and his fellow coaches led the team to a first victory in 13 years. The coach said on Monday, as the team arrived back home, that the feeling of what they've achieved, still comes and goes, although it has not fully sunk in yet. 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 ✕ 'Sometimes the feeling is you can't believe it, and then you settle down and come here and see the people. It is special,' Foote said. 'For now, it doesn't feel real. It feels like a dream. We didn't focus too much on not having won the tournament in a while, because that adds pressure. We had a tough pool and that was enough pressure. 'There was England, the defending champions, we had to beat. Australia beat us in the U20 Rugby Championship, and Scotland were three points behind England in the Six Nations U20. We wanted to ensure that our pool games went well. Cheering fans flocked to the airport to welcome home the triumphant #JuniorBoks on Monday, with Mr Mark Alexander saying: 'Many of them have the potential to go on to higher honours, I am sure' - more here: 🏆#JourneyToGreatness #WorldRugbyU20s — SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) July 21, 2025 'Our last message before that final to them was if you can be anything in the world, be yourself, and they played incredible rugby.' Foote said the Southern Hemisphere tournament prepped them well for what awaited in Italy. While they lost to teams like the Junior All Blacks and the Aussies in Gqeberha, it allowed them to experiment with team selections to fine-tune their best squad for the U20 Championship. Even when the Junior Boks kept changing their players for certain matches, the previous experience of playing together ensured they didn't lose continuity during the tournament. The Junior Bok coach is hopeful that his players can kick on from this major victory to make a name for themselves on the senior stage. Plenty of them will receive an opportunity during the upcoming Currie Cup for their respective franchises. The Junior Boks get their try ⚡ Haashim Pead spots the space and Jaco Williams finishes it off 💪💪#SSRugby | #WorldRugbyU20s — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 19, 2025 Speedsters Cheswill Jooste and Demitre Erasmus are signed up for the Bulls, while Junior Bok captain Riley Norton and centre Gino Cupido could feature for Western Province somewhere in the next couple of weeks. 'My hope for these players now is that they stay in the fight. They all have dreams to play for the Springboks. But the reality is that there will be a lot of players who never get the opportunity. They also have dreams to play in the United Rugby Championship. 'They must just keep believing in what they have done. If they do that, there will be plenty of names you'll see in the future.'
TimesLIVE
21-07-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
‘Proud day for rugby in SA': world champ Junior Boks welcomed back
The Junior Springboks were welcomed back to South Africa on Monday by cheering fans and South African Rugby Union president Mark Alexander, after winning the World Rugby Undxer-20 Championships in Italy on Saturday. Coach Kevin Foote's South African U-20s ended a 13-year wait to reclaim the global U-20 crown with a 23-15 victory over the Junior All Blacks in final in Rovigo. 'This is a very proud day for rugby in South Africa and I would like to congratulate Kevin and the team on an outstanding performance in the tournament,' Alexander said. 'The group have been welded into a formidable unit over the course of this year and many of them have the potential to go on to higher honours, I am sure. 'Their victory is a tribute to all the hard work done at high school level by educators and coaches and at our provincial unions from whom these players are drawn. 'Appointing a head coach in Kevin, who has franchise experience, was also an important part of the progress this group have shown and I would like to commend him, his back room team, and the High Performance Department at SA Rugby for what they have achieved in such a short space of time.' The Junior Boks last won the title in 2012 with a home victory over the same opponents in Cape Town, but had had a long wait for a repeat success having not appeared in another final since 2014. This time the team showed great composure in cruising to the final with commanding victories over Australia (73-12), England (32-22) and Scotland (73-14) in the pool stages, and Argentina (48-24) in the semifinals. They led in the final from the third minute and tries by Xola Nyali and Gilermo Mentoe and 13 points from the boot of Vusi Moyo secured a famous victory. Moyo finished the tournament as the top points' scorer with 63, while scrumhalf Haashim Pead scored six tries, placing him second for the most five-pointers behind Georgia's Mikheili Shioshvili (seven).
The Citizen
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
‘Greatest day of my life': Junior Boks captain Norton lifts U20 Champs trophy
The Junior Springboks beat New Zealand in the final after going through the tournament in Italy unbeaten. Junior Springbok captain Riley Norton poses with the World Rugby U20 Championship trophy after his team defeated the Junior All Blacks in the final in Rovigo, Italy on Saturday night. Picture:Rising sports star Riley Norton celebrated the 'greatest day of his life' after the Junior Springboks defeated fierce rivals, the Junior All Blacks, 23-15 in the World Rugby U20 Championship final in Rovigo, Italy on Saturday night. The Junior Boks completed an unbeaten championship run, after they powered their way through the pool stage and semifinal, setting up a classic against their biggest rivals New Zealand, and duly dispatched them to become just the second South African team to win the junior title. They emulate the class of 2012, who featured players such as Pieter-Steph du Toit, Handre Pollard and Steven Kitshoff, who all went on to become double World Cup winners with the Springboks, and some of these young up and coming talents will have dreams of doing the same. Dual star For Norton, who is a dual sports star, it was extra special as he was able to wash away the disappointment of losing in the semifinals of the 2024 U19 Cricket World Cup, with him able to lift the prestigious U20 title as the captain of the Junior Boks just over a year later. After the match Norton praised the entire SA U20 group that took part in Italy, and also gave props to the Junior All Blacks for contributing to a great final. 'I am quite emotional. I am just so proud, because the amount of work we put in after not a great TRC (U20 Rugby Championship in SA), our backs were against the wall, and we just came out and gave it everything,' said Norton. 'The group is unbelievable. The players, management and coaches, we all pulled in to a common idea, and it wasn't easy at times. But this is the greatest day of my life and I am so proud of everyone. 'Also hats off to New Zealand, they are an unbelievable team. We have the highest respect for them and they never go away. So to play a final against them was extremely special and something we will cherish for a very long time.' Asked about the match, Norton said their plan was to dominate physically, and that is exactly what they did, especially on defence which came to the fore as they defended their line brilliantly on a number of occasions, while they also score two tries to lift their incredible tournament tally to 35 in five games. Show up physically 'We just said we have to show up physically. That's our DNA, that's where South Africans get their energy and their passion from. At the set piece, the mauls, the scrums, just the hits (tackles). I think the guys did that for 80 minutes,' explained Norton. 'We never backed down and I think that's where we get our DNA from. And of course Simphiwe Moyo (flyhalf), with an unbelievable boot, always putting us on the front foot and kicking those penalties. He's amazing and will still be here next year. 'So I am so proud of the guys, I actually have no words. It's been an extremely special couple of weeks in Italy, and I am struggling to put it into words.' Although expectation were high after their dominant run to the final saw them head into the game as slight favourites, Norton claimed the team never felt any pressure. 'We never felt pressure. Of course there were a few nerves which was expected, but that's a good thing. Thanks to the amount of support we received from South Africa, getting videos from all our mates, people sending us messages and just backing us,' said Norton. 'It was just unbelievable, and I am so proud to be South African. We couldn't have done it without our fans back home cheering us on every step of the way. I think the sport culture in South Africa is so special and without it we wouldn't be in this situation. 'To everyone back home, we appreciate you guys so much, we couldn't have done this without you and we can't wait to bring the trophy home to all of you guys.'
NZ Herald
19-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
U20 World Champs final: New Zealand v South Africa live updates
Live updates of the U20 World Championship final between the Junior All Blacks and South Africa in Italy. New Zealand look to lift the trophy for a seventh time, but haven't won a title since 2017. They book a spot in the final with a 34-26 win over France. South Africa were more convincing in beating Argentina 48-24 as they search for a second title, with their only championship being in 2012.
