Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote says that the complete buy-in and backing from the South African Rugby Union (Saru) has given the Junior Springboks a major boost following two solid performances in the U20 Rugby Championship in the last few weeks.
The Junior Boks are a step away from clinching the title following their 56-17 thumping of Australia on Sunday put them on 10 points on the points table, after they opened the competition with a 48-21 win over Argentina.
New Zealand U20s edged their Aussie rivals 24-19 in their opening match, but were then upset 25-17 by the Argentinians on Sunday, leaving them both locked on five points and needing plenty to happen to overhaul the hosts on Saturday’s final day of action.
After their sole title at the World Rugby Junior World Championship back in 2012, the Junior Boks had been on a barren run since, including missing out on the first two editions of the U20 Rugby Champs, in Australia in 2024 and in Gqeberha last year.
But they finally picked up major silverware again when they powered to a fantastic World Rugby title in Italy last year, powering through the tournament unbeaten and beating fierce rivals the Junior All Blacks in the final.
It came as a surprise as in the 2025 U20 Rugby Championship a few months before they had suffered a slow start as they lost to the Aussie U20s and Junior All Blacks to finish third, only beating the Argentina U20s.
Hit ground running
This year however they have hit the ground running, and much of that has to do with the extra game time and training they have been afforded by the SA Rugby Union (SARU), compared to previous years.
“It has everything to do with that (extra preparation time). With the talent that we have in our country, we try and play as many games as possible to prepare guys for big tournaments,” explained Foote after the Australia win.
“So we have played against UCT twice, we’ve played against Maties, we went to Georgia where we played against Lelo Saracens (club team), and we played against the Georgian team twice. We came home and played against Boland, EP and the SAS (South African Schools) academy team out of Stellenbosch leading into this (U20 Rugby Championship).
“It’s that continuity and the time together that is so important for us going into these big tournaments. South African Rugby (SARU) has been unbelievable with that. They have really supported us. They give us such great facilities in Stellenbosch and it all plays a part.”
The Junior Boks now have a great chance of securing an unbeaten championship title when they face the Junior All Blacks on Saturday, which will give them a major boost ahead of the World Junior champs in Georgia later this year.
