FOOTE INNIE HOOK

SOUTH Africa has an appeltjie to skil with New Zealand when the arch-rival junior rugby teams face-off in Saturday's 8.30pm World Rugby Under-20 Championship final in Italy.

Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote’s laaities still recall earlier this year’s heartbreaking 48-45 U20 Rugby Championship loss to the Baby Blacks in Gqeberha.    

The Junior Boks let slip a 19-0 lead to trail 26-24 at halftime and then watched the Kiwis extend their lead, before a late fightback saw SA fall just short of winning their first southern hemisphere crown.

Since that loss, Foote’s team have been on the charge, klapping Australia (73-17), England (32-22) and Scotland (73-14) in pool play, before sweeping aside Argentina 48-24 in Monday’s semi-finals, to reach a first U20 Championship title decider since 2014.

But while the Kiwi’s also clean swept their way to the final, history is on the side of the Baby Boks, having never lost a U20 title decider against the old foe.

In 2012, the two teams met for the first time in a U20 Championship final, with a then Paarl Gimnasium skoolbrood Handre Pollard kicking the Junior Boks to a 22-16 win at Newlands.

And with try-scoring yster scrumhalf Haashim Pead with six dot downs, leading the charge, Foote has warned the Kiwis, that they are facing a ander span than the one in Gqeberha, and wysed: “The reality is that in the [U20] Rugby Championship, we were building towards [this], using it to build synergy and combinations and so we’re extremely grateful for that tournament.”

To get the job done on Saturday, Foote named an unchanged team for the decider in Rovigo.

JUNIOR BOK TEAM V BABY BLACKS: 15. Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 Albie Bester, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 JJ Theron, 4 Riley Norton (capt), 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Siphosetu Mnebelele, 1 Simphiwe Ngobese BENCH: 16 Juandré Schoeman, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ceano Everson, 22 Dominic Malgas, 23 Stephanus Linde