SA u18’s outsmart England to finish series on a high
PAARL.- SA u18 head coach, Katleho Lynch applauded his team’s gritty performance after they managed to nail and outsmart an unbeaten England side (33-19) in the final round of the u18 International series at Paarl Boys’ High on Saturday.
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The host nation came into the clash looking to redeem themselves after losing (37-24) against France in their opening match of the series against an England side that set their horizon on completing a clean sweep having thumped France (41-0) and Western Province (78-15) respectively in their two matches.
South Africa, similar to the start against France were on the backfoot early on when the home side failed to win back a line-out throw inside their half, and with the turnover ball, England stringed a couple of phases which resulted in lock, Junior Kpoku finding his way over the whitewash to open the scoring.
The host nation were quick to respond, and in the 12th minute hit back with a well-worked try by the backline to see vice-captain, JC Mars dot over for his first of the series.
The South Africans however, still showed cracks in defence, allowing England to play in their half with ease, and subsequently, they were made to pay.
After JC Mar’s score, England retained the ball from the kick-off and used their forwards to gain momentum over the advantage line. From the ruck, Flank, Ronan Daniell squeezed in outside centre, Nick Lilley who ran in under the poles untouched.
The two sides then got into a try scoring tussle, with centre Gino Cupido going over for the hosts before England’s Toby Baker restored clarity to cut the gap short and see South Africa lead 21-19 at the halfway mark.
The home side also had a try disallowed after the buzzer hit when the referee judged Siphosethu Mnebelele’s try as a double movement.
The second half proved to be tactical, and well calculated by the host nation.
Not only did they prevent England from scoring again, but the home side ran in two more tries through captain, JJ Theron, and wing Scott Nel to extend their lead by 14 points and stay out of reach.
England continued to pose a threat, but Lynch’s side controlled the tempo of the match, and despite losing Cupido and JC Mars to injury late in the half managed to hold on and seal a 33-19 win.
“Yeah, I’m absolutely stoked, I think the boys have done what we asked them to do,” said Lynch reacting to the match.
“We spoke a lot this week about character, pride and leaving the jersey in a better place and working for the guys that’s next to you, and I think the boys showed that today, it was a great performance.”
The turnaround for South Africa in their two matches was only three days – having played France only on Tuesday. Lynch despite that, made several changes to his starting fifteen, giving players an opportunity while keeping the team cohesion alive.
He admits that he had to use a different strategy to make sure the team was ready for the clash.
“When you get to campaigns like this, it’s important to have the philosophy of “less is more,” he added.
“You have to plan a little bit better; you can’t have two sessions everyday – so focus rather on less field time and more walkthroughs – it’s one of the best ways to actually coach, especially for the players because it’s at a slower pace.”
“That was the focus for us, and watching a lot of footage and I’m just glad it paid off today.”
The crop of the team that featured for the team in this series will likely be included in the u20 training camps for next year’s World Rugby u20 campaign.
The series, besides being an annual event, was also used to ensure that players were ready for international rugby when they take a step up in their career. Lynch believes the group of players they have will slot right in that system.
“The takeaways (from the series), as we’ve been saying throughout is just trying to plan for the future, and focus on the next u20’s, confirming talent, I think there was a lot confirmed today and throughout the two days,” added Lynch.
“We are really blessed with the players, groups, and depth that we have, and taking guys onto the next level. Getting them into the u19 academy, SA Rugby academy, and hopefully the Junior World Cup, that was the goal.”
Scorers:
South Africa 33 (21) – Tries: JC Mars, Gino Cupido, Cheswill Jooste, JJ Theron, Scott Nel. Conversions: Kyle Smith (4). England 19 (19) – Tries: Junior Kpoku, Nick Lilley, Toby Baker. Conversions: Angus Hall (2)
