Theron: We need to improve

Cape Town - The Junior Springboks are up and running at the Under-20 World Championships, having beaten hosts Italy 33-5 on Tuesday.

The match had been identified as a tough one for the Baby Boks, and the Italians were expected to be up for it physically as well as mentally in front of their home crowd.

But the South Africans passed their first test with flying colours, cruising through to a 21-5 lead at half time.

Coach Dawie Theron was naturally pleased with the result, but he acknowledged that there was much room for improvement ahead of Saturday’s clash against Samoa.

“We’re really happy with the win, but I think we made a tremendous amount of mistakes,” he said.

“It was a little bit slippery out there and there was a lot of humidity in the air … I felt that there was a couple of players who really did well and a couple of players who let themselves down.

“Maybe it’s a good thing to start like that so we can keep our feet firmly on the ground, we’ve got something to work on, and I think that is what we’re going to do in the next three days … we’re going to work really hard.”

In Group B’s other clash on Tuesday, Australia beat Samoa 34-22.