Junior Boks will treat Wales clash as quarter-final - Kevin Foote

The defending champions beat Georgia 33-5 in a physical Pool A clash in Tbilisi on Thursday Evening. South Africa scored five tries to Georgia’s one, with Siphosethu Mnebelele managing to score two for the Junior Boks, the remaining three were scored by Cheswill Jooste, Juan Giliomee and Luke Cannon.

Addressing the media after the victory, Foote credited his team for remaining composed and staying on the right side of the referee. 

“It’s awesome to win and to win ugly, you know,” said Foote

“It wasn't a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination. I thought that Georgia managed to sort of rattle us a little bit, so we didn't really get into our shape. So, we knew it was going to be physical and quite emotional, but I think that we stayed on the right side of the ref.”

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“It’s important that you can show maturity and not retaliate, and obviously, when the cards came, we managed to capitalise on that.”

The victory over Georgia ensures South Africa remain at the top of the Pool A standings with 10 points, but are followed quite closely by Wales U20 who will be their next and final test in the pool stage. 

The Welsh are also unbeaten in the Championship thus far after besting Georgia in their opening fixture and following that up with a convincing 47-0 win over Uruguay on Thursday. 

The two teams will face each other on Tuesday, 7 July 16h00 (SA Time), with Foote describing the clash as a quarterfinal.

“It’s quarterfinals now, that's how we see it now. It's just knockout rugby from here on out.”