Watch: Junior Boks' lock burns NZ backs to score a wonder try

Watch: Junior Boks' lock burns NZ backs to score a wonder try

The Junior Springboks stunned New Zealand in terrific fashion in the final round of group stage matches at the U20 World Championship in Argentina on Wednesday.

It took the South African’s only seven minutes to open up the scoring after Pretorius offloaded beautifully for Isaacs who scored in the corner.

However, it was Baby Boks' lock JJ van der Mescht's try that stole the show as the second rower capitalised on a loose ball from a NZ lineout and ran 50 metres to score.

The tall Sharks' lock outpaced a number of Baby Blacks' backs with Etene Nanai-Seturo the only player who seemed to catch the lock but he managed to beat off the Chiefs' winger to score.


The Baby Blacks had a few half chances on attack but they struggled to settle into a rhythm, although they did play against 14 men for most of the first half, as Dylan Richardson and Sibusiso Sangweni saw yellow in the half.

SA went into the break leading 19-3, after Jaden Hendrikse and Fergus Burke exchanged penalties before the buzzer.


The second half started with the South Africans on the front foot but New Zealand upped their physicality in defense which allowed them to turn the ball over often in the middle of the field.

In the 44th minute the Baby Blacks were awarded a penalty try after James Mollentze’s early tackle prevented a try. The No. 10’s action also saw himself get yellow which was his side’s third of the game. For about 30 minutes the game was a bit in limbo and both sides struggled to get any momentum, with handling errors dominating the play.

The final 10 minutes of the game was action packed, as Sanele Nohamba stretched SA lead to 22-10 but soon after Lalomilo Lalomilo scored in the corner to make it a 22-15 game. In the 78th minute, Nohamba killed the game off with a penalty conversion and that knocked New Zealand out of U20 championship.

The result saw the Baby Boks qualify for the semi-finals of the competition while New Zealand were knocked out of the competition.

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