The Junior Springboks recorded their third straight bonus-point victory in the pool phase of the World Rugby U20 Championship as they beat Scotland by 73-14 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Calvisano to seal top spot in their group in Italy
The South Africans also beat Australia (73-17) and England (32-22) to book their spot in the semifinals and on Wednesday they probably did enough to secure the top-seed position for the playoffs, which are scheduled for Monday.
Playing with purpose and showcasing their skills, the first half belonged to SA, who scored at more than a point a minute as they crossed the Scottish try line seven times.
Left wing Jaco Williams scored after four minutes when he launched a counterattack from inside his own 22. Six minutes later captain and flanker Thando Biyela was driven over, with centre Dominic Malgas adding the third in the 13th after a sniping break and great run from the back of a great scrum by scrumhalf Ceano Everson.
The bonus point try was in the bag in the 16th minute when Williams scored his second try from a line-out move and prop Oliver Reid added his name to the score sheet five minutes later from a maul.
Scotland pulled one back through Seb Stephen, but fullback Gilermo Mentoe’s try in the 31st, followed by prop Jean Erasmus crashing over four minutes later, pushed the Junior Boks past 40 points in the half.
It could have been 50 had Reid not dropped the ball on the try line from a 30m rolling maul on the stroke of halftime.
From the restart after the break, Williams came within centimetres of grabbing his hat-trick as he just stepped on the dead-ball line as he dotted down.
In the next few minutes, Cheswill Jooste (wing) and Jaco Grobbelaar (lock) were held up over the line as the South Africans kept hammering away as Kevin Foote (head coach) brought on the replacements.
The Junior Boks lost a margin of momentum as Scotland stepped up their game, but the men in green and gold were probably also guilty of becoming a bit too loose as they tried to stretch their lead.
They finally scored again on the hour as Everson stepped his way through the Scottish defence, and four minutes later No 8 Stephanus Linde rounded off a brilliant team try that started from a counterattack in the Boks’ 22, with the handling simply brilliant.
Everson scored his brace in the 71st to push the Junior Boks past 60 points as they grew in confidence, but replacement prop Oliver Finlayson-Russell grabbed a second for the Scots as they refused to give up.
However, replacement scrumhalf Haashim Pead scored his fifth try of the competition at the death from a move that started with a scrum in their own half, to push the Junior Boks past 70 for the second time in Italy.
Scorers
Junior Springboks 73 (45) — Tries: Jaco Williams (2), Thando Biyela, Dominic Malgas, Oliver Reid, Gilermo Mentoe, Jean Erasmus, Ceano Everson (2), Stephanus Linde, Haashim Pead. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (4), Ian van der Merwe (5).
Scotland 14 (7) — Tries: Seb Stephen, Oliver Finlayson-Russell. Conversions: Matthew Urwin, Jack Brown.
SA Rugby media
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