{"id":77555,"date":"2025-07-15T09:33:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77555"},"modified":"2025-07-15T09:33:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:33:36","slug":"foote-and-norton-credit-junior-bok-defence-for-win-over-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77555","title":{"rendered":"Foote and Norton credit Junior Bok defence for win over Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Flanker Batho Hlekani with another strong carry, South Africa u20 vs Argentina u20, World Rugby u20 Championship, 14 July 2035. (Photo: Gallo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote and captain Riley Norton credited their hard work and defence after the South Africans beat Argentina in Viadana on Monday night to book their place in Saturday\u2019s World Rugby U20 Championship final against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The Junior Boks scored six tries to three in their 48-24 semi-final victory<\/a> \u2013 four of those in the first half for a 28-10 lead at the break \u2013 but were made to work hard on defence in the second period by a resolute Argentina, who came storming back through their forwards and a rampant rolling maul.<\/p>\n

The Junior Boks quickly raced into a 28-3 lead and looked to be in full control of the match, but Argentina dug in and gave themselves hope just before half-time with their first try.<\/p>\n

The Pumitas then cut the deficit to 11 points (28-17) with a second try, but the South Africans hot back with two penalty goals by flyhalf Vusi Moyo before Albie Bester scored his second try.<\/p>\n

Although Argentina scored a third try, Junior Bok Cheswill Jooste went over after the buzzer to seal the victory, which booked South Africa a spot in the championship final for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the game, Foote credited the team\u2019s fighting spirit during that period in the second half when Argentina threatened.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery player gave his all, leading exceptionally well in his respective position,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir collective effort is a testament to their hard work and alignment, with the leadership group setting the tone. I believe they are a truly humble group, and we\u2019re well aware of how much effort we\u2019ve put in leading up to this tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very tough and physical match, and the conditions were extremely challenging with the humidity, but I must give credit to our players for their performance. They were rewarded for their hard work against a strong Argentinian side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norton echoed his coach\u2019s sentiment on their defensive effort, which proved the big difference in the end: \u201cI think our defence has improved tremendously from the Rugby Championship; we\u2019ve had valuable time together during that tournament and working on it more coming into this event in Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just so incredibly proud of the team for an outstanding effort against a tough opponent,\u201d said Norton, adding that they knew what Argentina would bring to the contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Argentina get their energy from their set piece,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a great mauling side so when they get on top of you, you just have to manage it and keep on fighting. The players just stayed in the fight and focused on the next job and that\u2019s why we could defend for such a long period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tournament is played in hot and challenging summer conditions in Italy, which according to Foote, requires careful planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bus trip to get to the game takes two hours and we finished our captains run at around 10am the previous day, so its boils down to getting your preparation right,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a little base close to the stadium where we could relax before the game, and the guys didn\u2019t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic or other things which might have been out of our control.<\/p>\n

\u201cZingi Hela, our team manager, and the backroom staff have been outstanding with that preparation. Even sitting in the coach\u2019s box tonight our hands were sweating; I must give credit to our handling skills of the ball under very taxing conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s final between the Junior Boks and New Zealand in Rovigo will kick off at 20h30 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.<\/p>\n

Issued by SA Rugby Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote and captain Riley Norton credited their hard work and defence after the South Africans beat Argentina in Viadana on Monday night to book their place in Saturday\u2019s World Rugby U20 Championship final against New Zealand. The Junior Boks scored six tries to three in their 48-24 semi-final victory \u2013 four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}