Junior Bok coach admits tough day out, but happy with victory

Junior Springbok coach Bafana Nhleko was happy his charges rose to the challenge in their tough opening encounter in the World U20 Championship on Saturday.

The Junior Springboks ran out against a stubborn Georgian outfit in their World Cup opener at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday night. Forward dominance and some slick handling in the backline gave them a 12-point lead at the break, but the Georgians - who recently defeated England - were not done yet.

The visitors rallied to reduce the deficit to two points in the final quarter of the game. Junior Springbok flyhalf Jean Smith produced a man-of-the-match performance, nailing seven from seven off the tee to guide the hosts home to a 33-23 victory.

"I'm proud of the boys, proud of the character they showed," Nhleko told the press after the match.

"In the first half, we were good at sticking to our systems, but in the second half, not so much. The momentum went away from us, especially when we went down to 14 men. I thought we did well to stem their momentum so we could get back on top again.

"Our leadership group was good today and our game drivers controlled it. In the first half, our set piece coped with them, that gave us the confidence to play the way we wanted to play. They are very good at scrumming and mauls. Once we got parity there, we felt confident in the rest of our game. It was tough today, for various reasons. I'm just glad with the first win.

"Georgia were desperate. They started exposing us. We needed to calm down a bit and get back into what we know works for us.

"We were a little bit tight on defence. I will have to look at it. A couple of times they got around us, it is something we will have to look at and understand why it happened. We also need to understand the interpretation of the set piece and other things. It's too early to say, we still need to look at it."

The Junior Springboks next face Italy on Thursday at Paarl Gymnasium.