SA u18 outplay England to finish series unbeaten
South Africa finished the Under-18 International Series on a high and undefeated note when they beat England 39-14 at Paarl Boys’ High School on Monday afternoon, adding to their impressive victory over Ireland last Friday at Paarl Gimnasium.
Last Monday, the SA u18 ‘A’ team beat Georgia at Stellenberg High School, meaning the South Africans were unbeaten during the three-match series.
On Tuesday, the SA u18s led 17-7 at half-time, and despite playing against a strong breeze in the second half, kicked on to outplay England convincingly in front of an appreciative crowd in Paarl. In the end, South Africa scored five tries, four conversions and two penalty goals, while England could only reply with two converted tries.
The hosts used the generous breeze to good effect in the first half, pinning the visitors deep in their own half with an accurate kicking game. However, they were guilty of committing too many transgressions, leading to several penalties, and as a result, they struggled at times to get out of their half.
With some impactful replacements in the second stanza, South Africa were able to pull away from England by crossing the tryline three times to finish the game strongly and securing a second win.
SA flanker Josh Neill had a good come on the side of the scrum, while Riley Norton (lock) continued with his industrious form as he also took over the captaincy later in the game from Sethu Mnebelele. Amongst the backs, Vusi Moyo (flyhalf) and Akha Boqwana (fullback) delivered solid performances in the green and gold.
Moyo opened the scoring when he landed a long-range penalty goal from the middle of the field, and 10 minutes later South Africa had their first try on the board through right-wing Khuthadzo Rasivhaga. Moyo converted to take the lead to 10-0.
But just two minutes later, England replied with their only try of the half via scrumhalf George Newman, who dotted down over next to poles, and with flyhalf James Linegar slotting the extras, the score was 10-7 halfway through the first half.
The SA U18s continued to apply pressure through their hard-working forwards, and it was no surprise when No 8 Reuben Kruger barged over for their second try. Moyo was again on target with the angled conversion to stretch the halftime advantage to 17-7.
After the resumption, Moyo maintained the scoreboard pressure by slotting his second penalty goal of the afternoon to hand the hosts a comfortable 20-7 lead with more than a half hour of play remaining.
SA U18 coach James Winstanley then sent on a fresh midfield combination of Markus Muller and Pieter van der Merwe with 20 minutes remaining, adding more firepower to the attack against a fading English defence.
Fleetfooted Cheswill Jooste went over for SA’s third try with just over 10 minutes remaining when he collected a pinpoint grubber kick from replacement flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, increasing the lead to a solid 25-7.
However, England gathered some momentum when their No 8 and captain, Connor Treacey, went over under the sticks for their second converted try to make it 25-14, giving the visitors some hope.
It was not to be though as the SA U18s hit back from the restart when Jooste scored his second try of the day when he showed his dazzling pace out wide to outstrip the English defence after some good handling by the South Africans in the red zone.
Replacement scrumhalf Elgernon Meyer sealed the deal a few minutes later with another good try, from a deft chip kick into space, to put the result beyond England at 39-14.
Scorers:
South Africa 39 (17) – Tries: Cheswill Jooste (2), Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, Reuben Kruger, Ellie Meyer. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (2), Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Penalties: Moyo (2). England 14 (7) – Tries: George Newman, Connor Treacey. Conversions: James Linegar (2).
