Cape Town - South Africa ended the dominance of New Zealand in the IRB Junior World Championship with a thrilling 22-16 final triumph at Newlands Friday.

A capacity 33,210 crowd saw the Baby Boks overcome a 10-9 half-time deficit against the Baby Blacks with scrum-half Vian van der Watt and inside centre Jan Serfontein crossing for second-half tries.

The rest of the South African points came from fly-half Handre Pollard, who succeeded with three of six penalty attempts and slotted a drop goal on the hour mark to give his team a 17-13 advantage.

Left wing Milford Keresoma went over on 34 minutes for the lone New Zealand try with fly-half Ihaia West contributing the other points via a conversion and three penalties.

New Zealand won the previous four editions of the Junior World Championship since it was introduced in 2008 while South Africa finished third three times and sixth last year.

A titanic end-to-end struggle between the under-20 sides captivated the crowd and created a wonderful atmosphere and advertisement for rugby union, apart from an ugly incident on 58 minutes.

South Africa lock Paul Willemse pulled the flowing dreadlocks of New Zealand Ofa Tu'ungafasi, who retaliated by punching the aggressor and both received red cards from English referee Greg Garner.

The Baby Blacks squandered a late chance to close the gap when they overthrew at a line-out close to the South African try-line, surrendered possession and it was the home team who finished camped in opposition territory.

Wales, who upset New Zealand in the pool phase before suffering a semi-finals hiding from the same side, finished third with a 25-17 victory over Argentina after withstanding a late Baby Pumas rally.

Scorers:

Tries: Vian van der Watt, Jan Serfontein
Penalties: Handre Pollard (3)
Drop goals: Pollard

Tries: Milford Keresoma
Conversions: Ihaia West
Penalties: West (3)

Teams:

South Africa: Dillyn Leyds (Western Province), Raymond Rhule (Free State), Kobus van Wyk (Western Province), Jan Serfontein (Blue Bulls), Tshotsho Mbovane (Western Province), Handrè Pollard (Western Province), Vian van der Watt (Golden Lions), Fabian Booysen (Golden Lions), Pieter Steph du Toit (KZN), Wiaan Liebenberg (Blue Bulls, capt), Ruan Botha (Golden Lions), Paul Willemse (Golden Lions), Maks van Dyk (KZN), Mark Pretorius (Golden Lions), Steven Kitshoff (Western Province)
Replacements: Franco Marais (KZN), Allan Dell (KZN), Oliver Kebble (Western Province), Braam Steyn (KZN), Shaun Adendorff (Blue Bulls), Abrie Griesel (Blue Bulls),Tony Jantjies (Blue Bulls), Travis Ismaiel (Blue Bulls)

New Zealand: Martin McKenzie, Pita Ahki, Jason Emery, Opetera Peleseuma, Milford Keresoma, Ihaia West, Bryn Hall (capt), Jordan Taufua, Hugh Blake, Jimmy Tupou, Nick Ross, Joe Latta, Fraser Armstrong, Nathan Harris, Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Replacements: Rhys Marshall, Tuki Raimona, Eric Sione, Taniela Manu, Jake Heenan, Scott Eade, Ambrose Curtis, Marnus Hanley

Other Results:

Argentina -Wales 17-25 3rd Place
Ireland 18-7 France - 5th Place
England 17-13 Australia - 7th Place
Scotland 62-28 Samoa - 9th Place
Italy 17-19 Fiji - 11th Place


Baby Boks: 2012 IRB Junior World Champions!