The Baby Boks suffered the humiliation of losing their opening match in the IRB Junior World Championship at home, going down 23-19 to a spirited and streetsmart Ireland in Stellenbosch on Monday night.
Dawie Theron’s second year in charge of the side couldn’t have started in worse fashion as the Baby Boks dominated most of the possession in the first half, but found their tactics wanting as they squandered good ball and watched as Ireland used their chances to good effect to run up a good lead.
Two charge-down tries were the killer blows for the Baby Boks as they failed to come to terms with their own game plan and were eventually physically dominated in every aspect by the Irish forwards.
Despite boasting a number of players with Super Rugby experience, it meant little as their scrum creaked, their lineout fell apart and both halfbacks wasted good ball by kicking it downfield and kicking poorly at that.
The South African Rugby Union’s hope that this team would produce a performance to set the World Champs alight came to nought and it must be questioned both the tactics and selections of the coaching team that looked poor and never were able to come to grips with the game.
In contrast Ireland delivered a passionate performance and were full value for their win, setting off celebrations at the final whistle after downing the home side with a controlled and aggressive play that the South Africans had no answer for.
It was hard to find any positives in the outing for Theron’s side, especially as they beat Ireland last year with ease on both occasions and this group had high expectations with the amount of talent in the side.
But after the opening penalties were slotted, it was left to Ireland to land the first telling blow, after a poor pass to Tony Jantjies left him little time to kick and Irish flanker Conor Gilsenan charged down the ball and it bounced perfectly for Jordan Coughlan to run in and score.
The Baby Boks looked rattled and struggled to find their way back, trailing 13-3 at the break, but started the second half a lot better.
A change of halfback and some more determined running saw lock Paul Willemse twist out of a tackle and over the tryline to bring it within three points and shortly afterwards Jantjies leveled the scores with a penalty.
But Irish flyhalf JJ Hanrahan showed some class again as he knocked over a drop goal before Jantjies clawed back another three points with the boot.
The crucial moment came when replacement halfback Wian van der Walt’s clearance kick was charged down and Gilsenan went over for the try. It was a massive blow, and the Baby Boks were reeling.
A late Jantjies penalty brought the team within striking distance but losing a key lineout again on the Irish line killed off their last hopes and gave the visitors a famous win.
The Baby Boks may not be totally out of the tournament but their chances of making an impact will now be severely dented, as will the reputations of coaches Theron and assistant Brendan Venter.
Source: Supersport
