The Junior Springboks clinched the 2026 Under-20 Rugby Championship with a round to go, overpowering Australia U20 56\u201317 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha. This followed Agentina’s win over New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Head coach Kevin Foote credited to the squad\u2019s growth, grit and collective belief.
\n\t\u201cThere was a huge improvement,\u201d said Foote. \u201cI think the whole squad showed what it means to play for South Africa. We showed grit and I\u2019m super proud of everyone.\u201d
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\n\tHe credited captain Riley Norton and the leadership group for setting the tone throughout the week and maintaining focus during a pressure match: \u201cOur preparation was excellent, and the leadership from Riley and the senior guys was really good,\u201d Foote explained.
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\n\t\u201cFrom how we felt a year ago on this same night, there was a lot of motivation going into this game.\u201d
\n\tWhile physical dominance remains a hallmark of Junior Bok rugby, Foote believes this group has developed a more complete and connected identity, thanks to the time they have played together since the beginning of the year.
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\n\t\u201cOur DNA is physicality, but it\u2019s also skill,\u201d he said. \u201cYou see the physicality in breakdown and how we want to play. This team plays with pride.\u201d
\n\tMeanwhile 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.
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\n\t\u201cBy their own admission, they wanted to fix last week, and I thought they did that today. Our discipline has also been excellent – we haven\u2019t had a card in this competition yet, which is massive.\u201d
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\n\tOnce again, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium proved an ideal stage, with an enthusiastic home crowd of 9,576 driving the Junior Boks forward.
\n\tThe Junior Bok mentor described the stadium atmosphere as amazing. \u201cThe noise, the entertainment, the support – it\u2019s brilliant. Every visiting team has said what a pleasure it is to play in Gqeberha,\u201d reckons Foote.
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\n\tMeanwhile, Norton echoed those sentiments, placing emphasis on character, connection, and shared responsibility within the group.
\n\t\u201cFor us it\u2019s about character and care. The off-field connection has been unbelievable, and that carries onto the field. We\u2019ve got an awesome group of guys who are willing to sacrifice for each other,\u201d said Norton, while adding that home support brings an extra emotional edge:
\n\t\u201cIt means a lot playing at home. You feel the crowd, and it pushes you to give more for the guy next to you.\u201d
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\n\tDespite having already secured the championship, Norton was quick to stress that standards will not drop ahead of their final fixture against New Zealand U20 and cautioned his team to prepare well for the final encounter next week.
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\n\t\u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Junior Bok side takes on New Zealand on Saturday May 9 in their third and last U20 Rugby Championship fixture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Junior Springboks clinched the 2026 Under-20 Rugby Championship with a round to go, overpowering Australia U20 56\u201317…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-647919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}