South Africa have their sights set on the trophy after finishing eighth in 2006
Photo: John Dickson
17 APRIL 2007
By Karen Bond
Eighth place in last year’s IRB Under 19 World Championship was simply not acceptable to a nation with such a rich rugby tradition as South Africa, even more so when they arrived in Dubai as the defending champions.
However that disappointing campaign is proving the inspiration for the 2007 crop of Baby Boks with coach Eric Sauls revealing that as a result of that placing, the preparations for this tournament began much earlier than usual.
“I think basically we started early, they worked a little bit harder last year and especially on the condition of players we started early. We were already having our trials early, so we had enough time preparing the squad,” Sauls told irbu19.com.
“There is great excitement, especially after last year there was a big pressure on us coming back. Obviously in South Africa is number one, they were highly disappointed after last year’s eighth position but everybody is excited.”
South Africa captain Gerrit van Velze echoes the sentiment of his coach, saying: “We don’t want to ham it up too much on last year, it’s a thing in the past, but we as South Africans have a rich rugby culture so they are not satisfied with eighth place.
Inspirational visitor
“They want to win and the players know that. We have to produce the goods. They support us, so we have to do what they actually think of us. Our goal and our intention is to bring the cup home and that is what we want to do.”
Van Velze has also been inspired by the surprise visit of Chiliboy Ralepelle, South Africa’s captain when they lifted the Under 19 crown in 2005, describing him as “a role model” for him and citing his speech as a “motivation” and “something special”.
That said though, the number 8 will not be underestimating the challenge posed by defending champions Australia, the side they face in the first semi final at Ravenhill on Tuesday 17 April at 17.30 local time.
“It is going to be a tough game, a battle up front, a battle at the back, the defence is going to be great. The team that is the most organised and makes the least errors, they will win the game,” Van Velze added.
South Africa and Australia are based at the same hotel in Templepatrick, which has meant a few less pleasant greetings over breakfast since the semi final line up was confirmed, but second row Sam Wykes is relishing the encounter.
Fight to the finish
“It will be very physical, I would imagine they will be keeping it in the forwards, they have got some good running backs out there, so it will be tough in the middle with some good hard defence as well,” Wykes told irbu19.com.
“There is no definite winner for this game; it is going to be fought to the 75th minute. That is for sure, it will be tough … I think we have still got plenty more to offer to the table, the boys know they are in for a big one and we just keep building there.”
Wykes is one of four players returning from Australia’s historic first victory in the IRB Under 19 World Championship in 2006, and the second row has been receiving support from another of that team in Josh Holmes, the IRB Under 19 Player of the Year.
“I still keep in touch with Josh Holmes, the former half back from last year. I still keep him up-to-date with the results because he is keen for us to win it again, he’s very passionate about it. He was stoked when he found out our result against France.
“Last year was probably the best feeling I have had … I guess not too many people can say they are a world champion and to have that opportunity again would mean a lot to me and the boys as well.”
Much has been made of the fact that this semi final pits together the last two champions, but for Australia coach Phil Mooney that doesn’t really mean that much, such is the high player turnaround at this age level.
Blip on the radar
There is no definite winner for this game; it is going to be fought to the 75th minute. That is for sure, it will be tough.
Australia lock Sam Wykes
“The nature of age grade tournaments can be cyclical. You are only ever left with at best three or four players from the previous year’s team, so I don’t think you can read too much into that [champions v champions], other than that each of our countries have got good development systems, so the calibre of players is high.”
Mooney though isn’t surprised to see South Africa back among the title contenders after their disappointment of 2006 and has been impressed by what he has seen of their opponents, who have ironically played the same three teams in the pool stages.
“They are a typical South African side; they are very big, they have got a real set piece focus, they have got some good powerful runners, they are like all of the southern hemisphere teams I guess they like to play with some ball movement and they have done well.
“I think that if you look at their recent history, last year was probably a bit of an aberration as opposed to the norm. They are the 2005 champions, they have done very at Under 21s. They are a strong rugby nation.
“So I think last year was probably a bit of a blip and they will be exceptionally keen to do well against us.”
Click here to see the squad lists for the Australia v South Africa semi final.
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