Not so fast — Junior Boks are not U20 Rugby Championship winners yet

Despite wide reporting that the Junior Boks have won the U20 Rugby Championship for the first time, there is still a remote mathematical chance New Zealand or Argentina could steal South Africa’s thunder.

Currently the Junior Boks have 10 points on the standings after a 48-21 win over Argentina and a 56-17 victory against Australia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha in the first two rounds of the 2026 edition of the tournament.

It leaves an outside chance that New Zealand, on five points thanks to a bonus point 34-29 win over Australia in round one, could still spoil the party.

Similarly, Argentina have five log points as well after scoring four tries against New Zealand in a 25-17 win in round two.

There seemed to some confusion over the allocation of bonus points, with a South African Rugby Union (Saru) press release declaring the Junior Boks champions on Sunday evening after their victory over Australia.

“The Junior Springboks clinched the 2026 Under-20 Rugby Championship in emphatic fashion on Sunday evening, overpowering Australia U20 56–17 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha to seal the title with a game to spare,” the release stated.

But by Monday there was confusion. It appears that tournament organisers Sanzaar reverted to the old rules of awarding a bonus point for scoring four tries, and not for scoring three tries or more than an opponent.

The latter system was used for the U20 tournament over the past two years, but appears to have been changed for the 2026 edition. It doesn’t appear to have been communicated properly or widely, with broadcasters SuperSport also declaring the Junior Boks to be champions.

A Saru spokesperson confirmed to Daily Maverick that a four-try bonus point system is in place, meaning the destination of the title is not confirmed.

Saru have amended their report to reflect that the Junior Boks have “all but clinched,” the title, but it did lead to some premature celebrations in the SA camp on Sunday night.

Refocus

The Junior Boks will need to refocus their energy, not that it would need much tweaking with a game against the Baby Blacks to come. That is motivation enough.

SA simply need one bonus point from their final match next Saturday (9 May, against NZ) to claim the title.

For New Zealand to defend their title, it would take a remarkable result with a 69 points differential on the log between the teams.

But the points differential might be a moot point. The rules of the tournament declare that the results between the teams supersede the points difference metric in deciding the winner, so NZ would be champions if they beat SA while scoring a bonus point and denying the Junior Boks a losing bonus point.

It would be even more staggering for Argentina to claim the title, as it would rely on a massive win over Australia in their final match, while needing New Zealand to beat SA and deny them a losing bonus point.

While the mathematical gymnastics is necessary after the confusion, the reality is that the Junior Boks have separated themselves from the pack at this tournament.

Dominant force

It would be a huge surprise if they fell apart against NZ in the final round, particularly after two dominant performances.

In fact, the Junior Boks have emerged as the age-group force globally and are on a competitive nine-match winning streak, going back to the start of the 2025 U20 World Championship last year.

They won five matches in that tournament on their way to the title. This year they beat Georgia twice earlier in the year and have since added Argentina and Australia to the list.

The Junior Boks, still missing star players such as Bulls wing Cheswill Jooste, Sharks fullbacks Zekhethelo Siyaya and Luan Giliomee and Bulls hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele, have room for improvement.

Wing Jack Benade has taken his chance in Jooste’s absence, scoring four tries in two games, including a hat-trick against Argentina to give coach Kevin Foote a good selection headache.

In the 2025 edition of the U20 Rugby Championship, the Junior Boks lost 29-24 to Australia. Although they thrashed the Aussies at the World Championship later in 2025, Foote was particularly happy with Sunday’s win in Gqeberha.

“There was a huge improvement,” Foote said in reference to their performance against Argentina in round one. “I think the whole squad showed what it means to play for SA. We showed grit, and I’m super proud of everyone.

“Our preparation was excellent, and the leadership from Riley (Norton) and the senior guys was really good. From how we felt a year ago on this same night, there was a lot of motivation going into this game.

“Our DNA is physicality, but it’s also skill,” he said. “You see the physicality in breakdown and how we want to play. This team plays with pride.”

Meanwhile the SA U20 coach also praised the impact of his replacements after challenging the bench to raise their standards following the previous match, where they faded against Argentina after a storming 50 minutes.

“By their own admission, they wanted to fix last week, and I thought they did that today. Our discipline has also been excellent – we haven’t had a card in this competition yet, which is massive.”

Despite their strong position to claim the title, captain Norton stressed that standards would not drop against NZ.

“If you take your foot off the gas, a team like New Zealand will punish you. We want to finish this tournament properly and keep improving,” Norton said. DM