South Africa delivered a convincing victory in the final U18 International Series clash against England in Paarl on Saturday.
Two unanswered second-half tries confirmed the growing dominance the South Africans displayed as the match progressed in a confidence-boosting result for the hosts, winning 33-19 after leading 21-19 at the break.
Earlier, France outplayed the Western Province XV 85-20.
Much was said after SA’s defeat to France earlier in the week, but the wholesale changes made by coach Katleho Lynch clearly had the required outcomes. The team in green were eager, enthusiastic, and clinical on attack and defence and their performance will be well-received in the junior ranks.
The SA U18s started well and had a good opening spell but could not quite finish to give justice to their effort and it was England who scored first when lock Junior Kpoku dotted down after 10 minutes of play.
England had better control when on attack and when Angus Hall converted, they were 7-0 up.
The SA response was immediate and it came through a delightful try by fullback JC Mars. England were under pressure from the restart and a poor clearance kick found Mars combining with flyhalf Kyle Smith and wing Kyle Nel, and he stepped inside the final defender to score under the posts. Smith converted to level the scores.
Credit to England and their response. South Africa was not great in clearing their lines from restarts in the first half and England pounced.
From the restart they gained possession and outside centre Nick Lilley ran a brilliant line to score. Hall converted and the seven-point lead restored (14-7 after 15 minutes).
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Centre Gino Cupido scored a lovely counter-attacking try to level scores again. Again, it was started by Mars from within his half and more creative passing saw Cupido using his pace to score under the posts. Smith converted to make it 14-all after 25 minutes.
Cheswill Jooste crossed the whitewash next with a try that handed the hosts the lead they would not surrender. Again, the backs attacked well in loose play and although the final pass to Jooste was sloppy, the wing managed to gather and stepped his way away from defenders.
Smith converted from a tight angle and a 21-14 lead.
Toby Baker scored from the kick-off as SA again could not exit from their own area and turned the ball over to England, who attacked well, but the conversion attempt went wide.
Hooker Esethu Mnebelele thought he scored in the final play of the half after England could not find their jumpers and the hooker busted through a number of tackles, only to be called for a double movement in what would have been an outstanding try.
The U18 International Series has come to an end with victories for South Africa and France – well done to all the teams for a great few weeks and safe travels to our visitors from England and France 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ExlKYbHE2T
— SA Rugby Youth Weeks (@YouthWeeks) August 19, 2023
The second half did not deliver the same fluency, but that was mainly to the number of errors forced on England by the South Africans, whose smothering defence forced the visitors into wild and sloppy passes, and resulted in a stop-start affair.
No 8 JJ Theron scored after a number of pick and drives by his pack (28-19) and after that there was only going to be one winner. Smith had a long-range penalty effort, but the strong Paarl wind had nothing of it being successful.
Nel scored after 56 minutes, again in a combination of individual effort and good team play. The conversion was wide, but the lead was now a significant one.
Nel made a try-saving tackle soon after as England had a rare visit to the SA red zone to sum up the SA effort. England attacked hard in the last minutes, but the hosts’ defence was too solid and determined to concede.
Photo: @YouthWeeks/Twitter