The Junior Springboks made South Africa history by becoming the first team to defend the U/20 World Championship title when they beat France 16-5 in a tough final on Saturday in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Baby Boks, which is one of the team’s nicknames, won the World Cup for the third time in history since they won it in 2012 and 2025.
The team’s defense of the World title also highlighted the strength of South African rugby compared to other countries.
After the Baby Boks game, the coach, Kevin Foote, highlighted the resilience of his players by not moving from what they had planned even when things seemed to be against them.
“This title shows how blessed South Africa is in this game,” said Foote after the game.
“What we can do is to be grateful for the opportunity to work under the South African Rugby Union (Saru) because in truth there is nothing special about us except that we were lucky to be given the opportunity to hone the future players of the big team.
“There is nothing much being done by the players or coaches other than the fact that South Africa has been given rugby and they should not be ashamed of this.”
The game started after a long time since the weather did not allow it. On top of this, almost all the fans in the stadium were with France, who attacked strongly in both halves.
In this game, the Baby Boks were denied two tries but even then they continued until it was good.
“There was a lot of opposition but the players faced everything head on in a way that we think left South Africa proud of its future Springbok players,” concluded Foote.
Meanwhile, the main squad, AmaBhobokhoko, made a spectacle in the Nations Championship game by winning 43-0 against Wales on Saturday at the Hollywoodbets King’s Park Stadium, Durban.
