Junior Boks on brink of World Championship success thanks to better preparation, planning

During a cold, wet and muddy 2023 World Rugby U20 Championships held in the Western Cape, the growing divide between the north and the south became glaringly obvious.

The heavy conditions required teams to play with more cohesion and structure, which only comes from greater international experience. The north was better prepared.

In the opening game of the 2023 edition, the Junior Boks lost to Italy. Bafana Nhleko, coach at the time, lamented his team’s lack of international experience compared with teams from the north.

People didn’t like hearing it, many saying he was making excuses, but he was correct.

Even New Zealand, the most dominant U20 team in the early editions of the World Championships, had fallen behind. They failed to make the semifinals that year, as did Australia and Argentina. Only the Junior Boks sneaked into the last four along with eventual winners France, Ireland and England.

“They start playing the Six Nations comp from U16 onwards and by the time they get to U20 — in junior terms — they’ve got 50 international caps,” Nhleko said at the time.

“It’s not something that we have, neither do we have the privilege of playing against them and testing ourselves.”

At U20 level, the northern hemisphere has had the Six Nations since 2008, which was the major factor in their competitiveness and then dominance at the World Championships.

Nhleko’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears because within a year, Sanzaar (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby) announced an inaugural U20 Rugby Championship to begin in 2024.

Rugby Championship

At the current 2025 World Championships in Italy, three of the southern hemisphere teams made the semifinals, with Argentina joining the Junior Boks and Baby Blacks. France completed the last four.

It’s significant because it’s the first time since 2019 that three southern hemisphere teams made the semifinals.

More striking, though, is that it’s the first all-southern hemisphere final since 2012, when the Junior Boks beat New Zealand on home soil.

One of the most significant changes was the introduction of the U20 Rugby Championship in 2024.

So far, there have been only two editions of the tournament, and already the benefits for Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa are showing.

“We need the Rugby Championship to prepare for the World Cup,” current Junior Bok coach Kevin Foote told Daily Maverick from the team’s base in Verona.

“If you look at the teams from the north, and Ireland in particular, some of them are clocking around 2,000 game minutes for their young guys.

“Between 2019 to 2023, we were getting nowhere near that.

“We’ve got this amazing talent in South Africa, but they just don’t play enough rugby compared to the northern hemisphere teams.

“So, any game we could get our hands on would be brilliant for us. The Rugby Championship was a great preparation in all ways.”

South Africa hosted the U20 Rugby Championship in Gqeberha in 2025, and although the Junior Boks placed only third, losing to New Zealand and Australia, it was viewed as a learning exercise with an eye on the bigger prize – the current U20 World Championships.

Despite a ropey return in the 2025 southern hemisphere showpiece, Foote emphasised how vital the experience was for his youngsters. And the results are showing.

They won their three Pool matches against Australia (73-17), defending world champions England (32-22) and Scotland (73-14). They then toppled Argentina 48-24 in a rain-soaked semi while New Zealand beat France 34-26 to reach the final.

“We learnt a lot about our leadership group in the U20 Rugby Championship,” Foote told Daily Maverick.

“We learnt about who can play Test match rugby. We learnt about different attacking styles that we haven’t seen.

“For example, New Zealand ‘stack-attacked’ against us, and coming into this World Cup, Australia, England and Scotland all stacked, and we’ve defended well against that.

“That improvement comes from what we went through in the Rugby Championship. It has been a great learning process.

“But the biggest thing is actually just giving these guys game time together, and the synergy and cohesion that we got from those games is invaluable.”

More games

While the U20 version of the Rugby Championship has been vital for the Junior Boks as well as the others in the Sanzaar alliance, there has been a concerted effort to schedule more games.

“We went to Georgia at the beginning of the year. We played against the Ikeys (University of Cape Town) and Maties (Stellenbosch University) before that,” Foote said.

“We also played against the Bulls and Hamilton club. Then we had the Rugby Championship, and following that, we played Kenya twice.

“But I believe we can get even more games. I know Dave Wessels (Saru’s director of rugby) is working so hard at this to ensure we close the gap from U19 level.

“We’ve got so much talent coming out of school. We need to pull them into our environment where we can get lots of games together to prepare for the World Championships.

“Look, I think the schools programme in our country is unbelievable. The coaches are excellent, the clubs and the unions do really well. But you get the guys who finish their matric exams, and then we were going into a World Cup seven months later without playing any games.

“So we spoke about finding games. We asked: ‘How do we get these guys playing together as much as possible before that?’

“And we targeted 10 games before the World Championships. We managed to get nine games, including those against the universities, which weren’t full games, but competitive or situational games. Those were gold for us.”

Talent

The current crop of Junior Boks has set the standard at the World Championships.

A strong pack with superb loose forwards such as No 8 Wandile Mlaba and flank Bathobele Hlekani provided a great foundation for backs with exceptional flair.

Scrumhalf Haashim Pead must be close to Player of the Tournament, while wing Cheswill Jooste and flyhalf Vusi Moyo are not far behind. Pead has scored six tries in four games, some of them beautiful solo moves.

But there is class everywhere, coupled with an adventurous gameplan designed to maximise the pace and flair of the players in the squad.

The Junior Boks lost 48-45 to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship, but both sides have improved vastly since then. It is set up to be a great final.

“You don’t need any extra motivation for a final like this,” said Junior Bok captain Riley Norton. “As coach Kevin said, you dream of a match like this – facing the haka on Saturday, the history and tradition of rugby between SA and NZ is just unbelievable.

“We love playing each other and have great respect for one another. It’s going to be an 80-minute battle. We’re extremely excited for Saturday, and I know the guys are up for it and very keen.”

Foote emphasised that the Junior Boks remain focused on growth and continuous improvement: “We’ll keep improving, and the thing is that we’ve played some awesome rugby in this tournament. I couldn’t be prouder of this group. 

“I told them in the changeroom (after the Argentina victory) how proud I am – to be on this journey with them is very special. They are absolute warriors and remain humble.” DM

The World Rugby U20 Championship Final kicks off at 8.30pm on 19 July and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.