![\"JuniorSpringboks\"](\"https:\/\/rugby.supersportschools.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JuniorSpringboks.jpg\")
SA Rugby High Performance manager and Junior Springbok assistant coach, Louis Koen, said on Thursday the team had a solid base to build on in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Rosario as they turned their attention to Saturday\u2019s match against Georgia at the Racecourse Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Junior Springboks got their campaign off to a strong start on Tuesday with a convincing 43-19 victory against the Scots, and Koen said they took several positives from the performance. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of positives, and the most important one for us is that we created numerous try-scoring opportunities,\u201d said Koen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also proud of our scrums, our conditioning and our finishing in the second half. The boys played 80 minutes of high-tempo rugby and that is what we wanted to achieve in that game, so I think we laid a solid foundation to build on going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, it was a bit frustrating not to finish some of the chances we created, especially in the first half, while they also wet the synthetic field 10 minutes before the match, which made the handling a little tougher in the first half. But that was the situation for both sides. So we need to adapt better to that against Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koen expected a physical encounter against the Georgians, but he said the team\u2019s focus would be solely on implementing their game plan effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played warm-up matches against Georgia in the last two years, so we know what their strengths are,\u201d said Koen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have huge respect for them, especially their set-pieces and physicality, but we are focusing on our processes and what we would like to achieve in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach said the players were in high spirits off the field, and that they were thrilled to participate in the international spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys are very positive and excited, and they are enjoying one another\u2019s company,\u201d said Koen.<\/p>\n
\u201cRosario is a small city and we\u2019ve not had much time to explore, but the players are spending a lot of time together, which is good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking forward to doing a few fun things together as a team as the competition progresses, but our approach to the tournament is very focused, and we know what we would like to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a privilege to work with these young men and I am looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Junior Springboks will face New Zealand in their third and final pool match on Wednesday, 12 June, while the semi-finals and the final will play out on Monday, 17 June, and Saturday, 22 June respectively.<\/p>\n
Issued by SA Rugby Communications<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SA Rugby High Performance manager and Junior Springbok assistant coach, Louis Koen, said on Thursday the team had a solid base to build on in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Rosario as they turned their attention to Saturday\u2019s match against Georgia at the Racecourse Stadium. The Junior Springboks got their campaign off to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8854","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\/8854","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}