Baby All Blacks snatch late draw against 14-man Junior Springboks

The 14-man Junior Springboks conceded a late try as New Zealand snuffled out an exciting 13-13 draw in the U20 Rugby Championship opener in very difficult conditions in the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Australia on Thursday.

The match was played in very wet and windy conditions, with a heavy downpour before the game creating puddles of water all over the field. The swirling wind, mostly in the South Africans’ faces in the first half, further complicated matters.

The wet conditions made handling difficult and the South Africans struggled at the breakdowns, but they were very strong on defence. The Junior Springboks U20s only had one attacking opportunity but could not make it count.

RECAP: JUNIOR SPRINGBOKS VERSUS BABY ALL BLACKS

New Zealand enjoyed territorial advantage in the first half, and a penalty goal on the half-hour mark by Isaac Hutchison was the only points of the half, as the Kiwis hit the sheds leading by 3-0.

The game opened up in the second half when New Zealand stretched their lead to 8-0 when Stanley Solomon went over in the left corner from an attacking scrum in the 50th minute.

The Junior Springboks knuckled down though and Tylor Sefoor (flyhalf) landed his first penalty goal just before the hour-mark to make it 8-3.

Moments later, the Junior Springboks pounced with Joel Leotlela going over under the posts after great work done by Bruce Sherwood as the SA U20s capitalised on a mistake under a kick by New Zealand.

After Sefoor’s conversion and a second penalty goal four minutes later, after a massive scrum, the Junior Springboks were suddenly leading by 13-8, and it could have been more had the SA U20 flyhalf not missed another attempt at a penalty.

With seven minutes to go, Joshua Boulle was yellow carded and a few minutes later, New Zealand scored their second try when Frank Vaenuku went over in the right hand corner, but the wind pushed the conversion wide to make it 13-13, which is how it ended shortly thereafter.

SCORERS AND SA TEAM FOR RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER

Junior Springboks – Try: Joel Leotlela. Conversion: Tylor Sefoor. Penalty goals: Sefoor (2).

New Zealand U20 – Tries: Stanley Solomon, Frank Vaenuku. Penalty goal: Isaac Hutchison.

Junior Springboks — 15 Michail Damon, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Bruce Sherwood, 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Tyler Sefoor, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Tiaan Jacobs, 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Sibabalwe Mahashe, 5 Adam de Waal, 4 Thomas Dyer, 3 Zachary Porthen (c), 2 Juan Smal, 1 Ruan Swart.

Subs: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Mbasa Maqubela, 18 Reno Hirst, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Thabang Mphafi, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Thurlon Williams, 23 Joshua Boulle.

The Junior Springboks had to settle for a 13-13 draw in Australia. Image: SA Rugby via X.