The Junior Springboks thrashed Georgia U20 in the first of two matches at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi on Sunday.
The U20 world champions raced into a 35-0 half-time lead, and that’s the way it stayed.
The Junior Boks sent out a completely different team in the second half, with Georgia showing real fight.
“We started really well – it was a great hit-out for us, especially being able to use the stadium and facilities where we’ll play our Junior World Championship matches [later this year],” said Junior Boks coach Kevin Foote.
Scrumhalf Hendre Schoeman scored the first try, with prop Danie Kruger, hooker Liam van Wyk and loose forwards Kebotile Maake and Gert Kemp then dotting down. Flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed kicked all five conversions.
“We changed the whole team at half-time just to give everyone a run, but after that, we couldn’t really control the game,” said Foote. “The penalty count was just too much, and we had too many handling errors.”
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Foote praised his players for their determination in keeping Georgia out during extended periods on defence.
“The guys were resilient, and even though we didn’t score, we kept them out despite the many penalties and turnovers. There was a lot of courage in our defence.”
JUNIOR BOKS – Tries: Hendre Schoeman, Danie Kruger, Liam van Wyk, Kebotile Maake, Gert Kemp. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (5).
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