Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote will have a welcome selection headache this week ahead of arguably their toughest pool match at the Junior World Championship in Tbilisi.
Following a 104-7 rout of Uruguay in the opening match of their U20 title defence against Uruguay, several players put their hands up for selection ahead of facing hosts Georgia in the second round of the tournament on Thursday.
It was an outstanding all-round performance with few errors for the South Africans to address. However, after scoring 16 tries, they know Georgia, backed by a passionate home crowd, will provide a far sterner test than they faced on Saturday evening.
Winger Jordan Steenkamp and flanker Risima Khosa both scored hat-tricks, while the forwards laid the perfect platform up front, allowing flyhalf Alzeadon Felix to orchestrate proceedings in attack.
“There were a lot of good performances, and plenty of players put their hand up for selection going forward,” Foote said.
“That is the point of the World Cup, we have a great squad here, and we will give some other guys a go in the second game, and we will keep building. You can feel the passion and energy that the Georgians will play with in front of their home crowd.
“It will be a hurting Georgia following that loss and Wales looked really good. They will come out with everything and physically, we must be ready.”
Captain Rambo Kubheka echoed the sentiments of his coach. He led the team with aplomb in the opening match and embraced the physical battle, setting the example with his performance.
Despite the runaway victory, Kubheka warned that the Junior Boks must keep their eyes on their goals and not get too carried away.
“I could not have asked more from the boys and we laid the foundation on how we want to play in this tournament,” he said.
“They didn’t make it easy for us; teams from South America are always really passionate and physical. They really gave us a run for our money. We watched Georgia vs Wales, and we know what is waiting for us. We played them three times, if I am not mistaken, and we clearly got the memo of what is to come.”
Steenkamp was pleased the Junior Boks pitched up for their opening clash and said the squad showed plenty of heart and passion for one another. While he bagged a hat-trick, the winger praised his teammates for putting him in the right areas of the field to cross the whitewash three times.
“I didn’t do it on my own; they spread the ball to me. The team really played well and shifted the ball well. Although we scored so many tries, Uruguay never went away and we could not rest on our laurels. We had to keep working for each other.”
