Foote applauds Junior Boks after emphatic win

By Liam Maconi
28th June 2026

Junior Springboks head coach Kevin Foote says despite the challenging weather conditions in Georgia, he was impressed with his side’s performance in their opening Junior World Championships match against Uruguay.

South Africa’s U20 side came out guns blazing in their opening Pool A fixture in Tbilisi, sending an early warning that they are serious about defending their title.

They saw off Uruguay 104-7 after taking a 50-0 lead into half-time. The only try they conceded came after the final hooter had sounded.

The Junior Boks scored 16 tries including a penalty try, with wing Jordan Steenkamp and Flanker Risima Khosa grabbing hat-tricks.

Speaking to the media, Foote said his side had been waiting for this tournament for a long time.

“It’s awesome to be in Georgia. I think we've been waiting for this for a long time and the guys had a great start. I think that Uruguay were so competitive at the breakdown and even in the front of the line-outs and the conditions weren't that easy with the wind, but I thought we did well to keep the ball in hand and we ran really hard and it's just a nice start for us to get into this competition,” said Foote

READ: George North signs off with a double as Wales edge Barbarians at Twickenham

The Junior Boks mentor also commended Uruguay for the character that they showed.

“Yeah, I think Uruguay will take a lot of heart from scoring the last try. That says a lot about their character and we expected that from them.”

Ahead of the tournament, Foote mentioned that there would be rotation within the squad during the opening two matches before a decision is made for what the strongest team looks like. He once again reiterated that post-match.

“I think there were a lot of good performances, a lot of guys putting their hands up for selection, but that's the whole point of the World Cup, you know, is that we've got a great squad here and we'll give some other guys a go in the second game and we're going to just keep building. Next up, a big match against the host nation.”

South Africa will face hosts Georgia U20 on 2 July at Avchala Rugby Stadium. Georgia suffered a narrow 25-24 defeat to Wales on Saturday, so Foote expects a side that will come out with everything they have.