{"id":86755,"date":"2025-11-15T19:17:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T17:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=86755"},"modified":"2025-11-15T19:17:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T17:17:39","slug":"tenacious-sa-u19-finish-european-tour-on-a-high-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=86755","title":{"rendered":"Tenacious SA u19 finish European tour on a high note"},"content":{"rendered":"

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote and captain Riley Norton both lauded the fighting spirit of the SA U19 Academy team, who beat Ireland in their last tour match in Cork on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

The team’s character was truly tested in their final tour match in Ireland, where they played in freezing cold, wet, and windy conditions marked by sweeping rain.<\/p>\n

Despite the atrocious weather, the SA U19s demonstrated remarkable grit and executed a strong, forward-dominated performance to secure an impressive 32-22 victory, finishing the tour on a massive high.<\/p>\n

After the game, Foote praised the resilience of fighting character of the touring squad, who delivered an assured performance in very difficult winter northern hemisphere conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was just a brave performance from our young men, I thought they showed tremendous character in seriously harsh conditions,\u201d said Foote.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir attitude all week, since we left France, has been nothing short of excellent. We simply accepted the weather and focused on what we could control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote (Photo: SA Rugby)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Junior Bok head coach, who made wholesale rotational changes to the side that went down to France the previous week, was especially pleased with the role of the team leadership in the build-up to the game and during the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur leadership was outstanding,\u201d he said. \u201cLed by Riley Norton and Esethu Mnebelele, and Vusi Moyo really stood up nicely in the backs, while another leader, \u2018Rambo\u2019 Kubheka, made a huge impact off the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur senior players inducted the new guys brilliantly, and honestly, spending time with this group has been special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foote once more emphasised the importance of the European tour in the overall preparations of the South African Under-20 programme: \u201cWe’re very grateful to France and Ireland for making these matches possible, and of course to Dave Wessels and the SA Rugby administration back home for getting this done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis block is hugely important for our journey as a new group – touring two countries and playing in these challenging conditions is exactly what we needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur pack once more stood up, and the backs are really starting to find cohesion. We came here looking for those connections, and we saw them on Friday evening. The boys have bonded well, and we\u2019ll all watch the Springboks (against Italy) play today as a team exercise, before heading home on Sunday after what\u2019s been a very good tour experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited and looking forward to working with this group and staff. The growth they\u2019ve shown since we first started three weeks ago in Stellenbosch has been exceptional,\u201d added the Junior Bok coach.<\/p>\n

Part of the team shuffle for the Irish game saw Norton moved from his usual lock position to blindside flanker, and the Junior Bok captain led from the front in a dominant pack, also stealing crucial lineout possession from the Irish to pile on the pressure.<\/p>\n

The SA forwards scored three tries, while they were also awarded a penalty try in the second half when Ireland illegally stopped the goal-bound lineout maul.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was probably the toughest match I’ve ever played, weather-wise,\u201d said Norton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wind and rain were relentless, but we knew we had to embrace those conditions. We spoke all week about showing that typical South African strength and determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur forwards were unbelievable, that maul was unstoppable, we won the physical battle, and we were brave in defence \u2013 all of which were key to securing the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norton said the French result sharpened their focus and increased their determination: \u201cAgainst Ireland, there was a different energy and absolute commitment to the physical breakdown. We learned to confront the pressure head-on, and to bounce back like that truly shows the heart of this team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tour has been huge for our growth as a new group. This victory against a very good Ireland side, in that kind of weather and in front of their passionate home crowd, gives us massive belief. We\u2019re pleased we could turn things around and are returning home knowing we\u2019ve put down a very good marker.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SA U19s fly home on Sunday evening from Dublin and will arrive early Monday morning in Johannesburg, from where the squad members will travel to their home destinations.<\/p>\n

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

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote and captain Riley Norton both lauded the fighting spirit of the SA U19 Academy team, who beat Ireland in their last tour match in Cork on Friday evening. The team’s character was truly tested in their final tour match in Ireland, where they played in freezing cold, wet, and windy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":86759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86755","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\/86755","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=86755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/86759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}