Argentina - The SA Under-20s were on Thursday knocked out of the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship after they conceded a 36-7 defeat against New Zealand in Rosario.

The Baby Boks will now play England in the bronze medal match while the Baby Blacks will take on Australia in the Cup final. Both games will be played on Monday 21 June 2010.

New Zealand scored four tries thanks to the efforts of winger Julian Savea who scored a brace; lock Blade Thomson and No 8 Rory Grice.
 
South Africa’s only try in the match was scored by centre Branco du Preez while fullback Patrick added the conversion. Man of the match New Zealand flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal kicked three conversions and four penalties.  

“We are bitterly disappointed with the defeat,” said SA Under-20 coach Eric Sauls.

“Compliments to New Zealand. They are the only undefeated team in the history of the tournament and that experience showed today. They were more clinical than us and they used their opportunities whenever they were on attack.

“We were also guilty of making too many mistakes early in the game. Looking back, we were always chasing the game and the Baby Blacks fed off many of our mistakes. They scored three tries early in the first half and that made things a bit difficult for us.”

The Baby Boks were guilty of slipping many first time tackles which allowed New Zealand excellent momentum during the first half. After the first 30 minutes, the South Africans conceded 22 points after Savea, Thomson and Grice scored the Baby Blacks’ opening three tries.

New Zealand also held the upper hand at the break down and their physicality over the South Africans was evident as the Boks struggled to gain forward momentum from first phase possession.

The Baby Blacks also had the dominant scrum which limited the attacking opportunities that presented itself. The South Africans though did impress in the line-outs and looked good whenever they had ball in hand.

In the second half, the Baby Boks slipped less tackles and kept the pressure on the New Zealanders. However the South Africans were heavily penalised at the breakdown and conceded numerous penalties. The Boks had the odd opportunity later in the game to score points, but numerous handling mistakes cost the South Africans momentum on attack.

New Zealand played a high-paced game in the first half, but the Baby Boks managed to slow the game down in the second. The Kiwis spread the ball wide on almost every opportunity on attack and stretched the SA Under-20s’ defensive line throughout the game.

“We’ve got to end the tournament on a high,” added Sauls.

“We play England again, but this time for the bronze medal. We’ve never beaten England in the Junior World Championship and hopefully this should be enough motivation for the guys as we prepare for Monday’s game.”