Relentless Junior Boks book semi-final spot The Junior Springboks secured their place in the semi-finals of the World Rugby U20 Championship with a superb second-half performance by grinding out a 24-16 victory (half-time 7-16) over Argentina on a cold and windy night at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town. South Africa, who topped Pool C, will face Pool B winners Ireland in the semi-final on Sunday, while the other top-four playoff will be between England, who finished second in Pool B, and Pool A winners France. Playing with intensity and tiring out the Argentineans, who were kept...

Relentless Junior Boks book semi-final spot The Junior Springboks secured their place in the semi-finals of the World Rugby U20 Championship with a superb second-half performance by grinding out a 24-16 victory (half-time 7-16) over Argentina on a cold and windy night at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town. South Africa, who topped Pool C, will face Pool B winners Ireland in the semi-final on Sunday, while the other top-four playoff will be between England, who finished second in Pool B, and Pool A winners France. Playing with intensity and tiring out the Argentineans, who were kept...

  Zachary Porthen (prop) will lead the Junior Springboks into action against New Zealand on Thursday, in the opening round of the inaugural Under-20 Rugby Championship at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland in Australia. The former SA Schools captain is one of five players in the South African match-day squad who featured in last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship in Cape Town, where the Junior Boks finished third. The other returning SA U20s from last year who will start against New Zealand are Asad Moos (scrumhalf), Jurenzo Julius (centre) and Litelihle...

  Zachary Porthen (prop) will lead the Junior Springboks into action against New Zealand on Thursday, in the opening round of the inaugural Under-20 Rugby Championship at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland in Australia. The former SA Schools captain is one of five players in the South African match-day squad who featured in last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship in Cape Town, where the Junior Boks finished third. The other returning SA U20s from last year who will start against New Zealand are Asad Moos (scrumhalf), Jurenzo Julius (centre) and Litelihle...

Junior Boks learn big lessons from draw against NZ It was not the result they wanted, but the Junior Springboks were happy with the effort and learnings from their U20 Rugby Championship opener played in very difficult conditions against a strong New Zealand Under-20 side in Australia on Thursday. That’s the assessment of Junior Springbok coach Bafana Nhleko after the two teams played out an exciting 13-13 draw at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland. The match was played in very wet and windy conditions, with a heavy downpour before the game creating...

Junior Boks learn big lessons from draw against NZ It was not the result they wanted, but the Junior Springboks were happy with the effort and learnings from their U20 Rugby Championship opener played in very difficult conditions against a strong New Zealand Under-20 side in Australia on Thursday. That’s the assessment of Junior Springbok coach Bafana Nhleko after the two teams played out an exciting 13-13 draw at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland. The match was played in very wet and windy conditions, with a heavy downpour before the game creating...

Junior Boks looking for improved effort against Australia JF van Heerden will captain a Junior Springbok side showing several changes when they take on Australia in the second round of the Under-20 Rugby Championship at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland on Tuesday. Van Heerden takes over the captaincy from Zachary Porthen, who has been ruled out of contention for this match due to a hand injury he sustained in the 13-13 draw against New Zealand last week. SA U20 head coach Bafana Nhleko announced a starting line-up showing nine changes and a positional switch,...

Junior Boks looking for improved effort against Australia JF van Heerden will captain a Junior Springbok side showing several changes when they take on Australia in the second round of the Under-20 Rugby Championship at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland on Tuesday. Van Heerden takes over the captaincy from Zachary Porthen, who has been ruled out of contention for this match due to a hand injury he sustained in the 13-13 draw against New Zealand last week. SA U20 head coach Bafana Nhleko announced a starting line-up showing nine changes and a positional switch,...

Junior Boks want to finish on a positive note The Junior Springboks have worked hard to rectify their inconsistencies and mistakes and want to play to their true potential when they face Argentina in their final Under-20 Rugby Championship match on Saturday afternoon at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland in Australia. That is what Lumumba Currie, Junior Bok assistant coach, wants to see from the SA U20s when they face a powerful Argentinean side in their third and final fixture of the SANZAAR tournament. The Junior Boks lost their previous match 24-19 to Australia...

Junior Boks want to finish on a positive note The Junior Springboks have worked hard to rectify their inconsistencies and mistakes and want to play to their true potential when they face Argentina in their final Under-20 Rugby Championship match on Saturday afternoon at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarina, Queensland in Australia. That is what Lumumba Currie, Junior Bok assistant coach, wants to see from the SA U20s when they face a powerful Argentinean side in their third and final fixture of the SANZAAR tournament. The Junior Boks lost their previous match 24-19 to Australia...

Junior Boks show great character against Argentina Junior Springbok flyhalf Philip-Albert van Niekerk kicked a last-minute penalty goal to seal a remarkable 30-28 victory for the SA U20s after a sensational start and a strong second half in their final U20 Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Australia on Sunday. The Junior Boks would have been happy with the victory, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially at lineout time. However, they showed great character in the second half to overturn a 7-21 half-time deficit into a...

Junior Boks show great character against Argentina Junior Springbok flyhalf Philip-Albert van Niekerk kicked a last-minute penalty goal to seal a remarkable 30-28 victory for the SA U20s after a sensational start and a strong second half in their final U20 Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Australia on Sunday. The Junior Boks would have been happy with the victory, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially at lineout time. However, they showed great character in the second half to overturn a 7-21 half-time deficit into a...

The Junior Springboks have included three uncapped players, namely hooker Luca Bakkes, flyhalf Liam Koen and outside back Likhona Finca, in their match day squad for their World Rugby Under-20 opening match against Fiji at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday. The encounter kicks off at 19h00 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Bakkes will make his run-on debut and packs down in the front row between props Ruan Swart and Zachary Porthen, the Junior Bok captain, while Finca is set to make his debut off the bench should he be sent on as an outside back replacement. Koen will wear...

The Junior Boks will play for the seventh place in the World Rugby U20 Championship after going down 34-24 (half-time 10-24) to Argentina in their fifth-place semi-final on a sunny but cool afternoon in Cape Town on Sunday.

The Junior Springboks have called up outside back Wandile Mlaba as replacement for Likhona Finca, who sustained a hand injury and will not be in contention Friday’s clash with Wales in Cape Town.

With their pack of forwards setting the tone, the Junior Springbok regained some pride when they beat Wales by 47-31 (half-time 19-5) in their World Rugby U20 Championship seventh-place playoff on a sunny Friday afternoon at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town.