'Rethink needed' – Junior Boks put disappointing U20 Championship campaign down to lack of rugby smarts

Jurenzo Julius celebrates after scoring against Fiji at DHL Stadium on 29 June, 2024, in Cape Town. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

22 Jul 2024

South Africa finished their worst U20 Championship campaign on Friday, after winning only two out of five matches at home.

The Junior Springboks concluded their U20 Championship on Friday with a consolation 47-31 win over Wales to secure seventh spot, out of 12 teams, on the standings at Cape Town Stadium.

It was only the team’s second victory out of five matches in their campaign, completing their worst ever finish and only the second time they failed to reach the semi-finals. Although the scoreline to Friday’s match looks close, South Africa were dominant throughout.

This is something that cannot be said for their three previous matches, in which they lost to Argentina twice as well as to eventual champions England.

The Junior Boks’ only other win in their campaign was a 57-7 opening-round win over Fiji, who after finishing last in the U20 Championship will play in the U20 Trophy next season.

Head coach Bafana Nhleko put the team’s struggles in the tournament to a lack of “rugby smarts” throughout the championship as a result of not playing enough competitive matches.

Read more: Junior Boks’ struggles continue as Argentina battle awaits in U20 Championship

“We’re probably not as rugby smart as we could be as a group, but there are different reasons for that,” Nhleko said after the match.

The head coach lamented the side’s lack of meaningful game time in pressure situations before coming into the tournament.

For the first time ever, a Sanzaar U20 Rugby Championship took place this year between Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa where the South African side had their first taste of “international” rugby.

Jurenzo Julius celebrates after scoring against Fiji at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 29 June, 2024. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)

While it is a stepping stone, Nhleko admits that it is not enough to compete against the northern hemisphere’s junior teams.

“There’s two things: from a coaching point of view, we can’t run away from the accountability of results,” Nhleko said. “We’ve had a disappointing tournament – especially at home – it just hasn’t been good.

“That aside, exposing these guys to a certain level of pressure – which is something we need to look into in our junior programme. We probably need to figure out the difference between development and high performance as a country, and the gulf is there.

“The talent is there, no doubt about it, but there’s a gulf between high performance and development.”

High standard

England came into the tournament as junior Six Nations champions and claimed a second crown with their U20 Championship win.

Their opposition in the final, France, whom they snuck past 21-13, were also filled with experienced players, which according to Nhleko has seen the standard of the tournament continually raised.

“It’s a proper tournament,” the coach said. “I was looking at the French team, and their No 8 (Mathis Castro-Ferreira) played for Toulouse in the Champions Cup final, he played in the Top 14 final.

“Hugo Reus has played for La Rochelle as a 10, and you can see it.

“Georgia has invested a heck of a lot into their programme, you can see them getting better and better.

“Bar Fiji, who had a few hiccups and were slightly underprepared, the standard of this comp is going higher and higher.”

Read more: Baby Boks’ U20 Championship semifinals dream dashed after loss to England

Despite South Africa only having won the competition in 2012, the system has still produced several senior Springbok players.

“For me, the physicality and the tactical astuteness of the coaching at this level, it just bubbles under the level of senior rugby,” Nhleko said. “It’s also quite a fast game because the guys can still play and want to throw it there. A big challenge is exposing our guys to that.

“We haven’t won the thing since 2012, so the reality is that we need to rethink what we’re doing. There are good things, in the sense that there are still Springboks coming out of this group.

“Seventy-three percent of the team that played against Portugal came through the Junior Boks system in the past few years, so we are doing some good things, but it would be good to win it.”

A change of the guard?

While Nhleko stated that losing a few games didn’t make him a bad coach overnight, after two years at the helm, he was considering vacating the role of under-20 head coach.

“Firstly I need to take a breather and rethink things,” he said. “It takes a lot of energy and I need to figure out if I still have the energy for 2025.

“I need to take a break and think about that. It takes a lot. The only thing I need to figure out is if I have the energy for another under-20 programme and for how long I can (keep going).

“I have to trust in my abilities. I have faith in my coaching abilities. I can always learn and grow, but I can figure it all out after the break.” DM

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High standard

A change of the guard?