The first half was a tense affair as both teams threw everything at each other in attack, but a combination of dogged defending and a wet ball prevented them from capitalizing on a couple of scoring chances.
Australia came out firing in the opening minutes, putting constant pressure on the Junior Boks near their tryline, but they held their own as the South Africans defended resolutely. They also showed good aggression throughout the half – although handling errors denied them in the opening 30 minutes.
Red card for Junior Bok prop Mbasa Maqubela in the 20u The minute to charge into a pull dangerously did not help their cause and this paved the way for Australia to open the scoring on 28u minute with a penalty goal.
Despite being men down, the SA U20s forced their way close to the try line and managed to crash over the chalk but the ball was held.
That didn’t stop them from scoring the first points of the game two minutes later under intense pressure from their forwards, and the rewards followed with captain JF van Heerden kicking the ball over for their first try. Thurlon Williams’ conversion put them up 7-3.
However, this was short-lived as Shane Wilcox scored for the opposition three minutes later from a maul, giving them a 10-7 lead. The Australians had the chance to add three more with a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time, but the effort was off target, which saw them go into the break with a narrow three-point lead.
Red carded 20 minutes into the game, the Junior Boks were reinstated with 15 men in the second half, and this reinvigorated their attack, but again error handling cost both teams in the third quarter as they continued to try. to make their presence felt in the attack.
The Junior Springboks finally made a breakthrough in 62n.d minute as Litelihle Bester ran a great line in attack and collected a pass from the base of the ruck and this pushed them into a 14-10 lead. But Australia responded almost immediately with Wilcox kicking his second five-pointer to regain the three-point lead.
The Australian U20s struck again with eight minutes left on the clock as they were awarded a penalty after Bathobele Hlekani was fouled during a rolling scrum near the tryline, then booked, reducing the Junior Boks to 14 men at one time. again, while Australia comfortably led 24-14.
That didn’t stop the South Africans from fighting until the end, with Bester collecting a superb kick to knock down for the second time. But unfortunately for Bafana Nhleko’s men, the conversion effort was high, and despite their constant efforts to sneak through for victory, they were forced to settle for a disappointing 24-19 defeat.
Scorer:
Junior Springboks 19 (7) – Tries: JF van Heerden, Litelihle Bester (2). Conversions: Thurlon Williams (2).
Australia 24 (10) – Tries: Shane Wilcox (2), Penalty try. Conversions: Cullen Gray, Joey Fowler. Penalty goal: Grey.