Junior Boks receive hero’s welcome

The Junior Springboks were welcomed back to South Africa on Monday by cheering fans and the president of the South African Rugby Union, Mark Alexander, after winning the World Rugby U20 Championships in Italy on Saturday.

The SA U20s, under the leadership of head coach Kevin Foote, ended a 13-year wait to reclaim the global Under-20 crown with a 23-15 victory over the Junior All Blacks in the summer heat of Rovigo.

“This is a very proud day for rugby in South Africa, and I would like to congratulate Kevin and the team on an outstanding performance in the tournament,” said Alexander.

“The group have been welded into a formidable unit over the course of this year and many of them have the potential to go on to higher honours, I am sure.”

The Junior Boks last won the title in 2012 with a home victory over the same opponents in Cape Town, but had had a long wait for a repeat success having not appeared in another final since 2014.

Alexander also hailed the appointment of Foote as head coach of the team.

“Appointing a head coach in Kevin, who has franchise experience, was also an important part of the progress this group have shown, and I would like to commend him, his backroom team, and the High Performance Department at SA Rugby for what they have achieved in such a short space of time.” he said. Written by Ntsako Mkhari