Baby Boks batter Los Pumitas

The South African Under-20 team recorded a convincing 39-7 victory over their Argentinean counterparts, Los Pumitas, in Vredenburg on Wednesday.

Six tries were scored by the Baby Boks who dazzled the Vredenburg crowd thanks to the exciting, running rugby employed by the hosts.

Captain CJ Stander, prop Marcell van der Merwe, centre Jaco Taute, fullback Garth April , wing Clayton Blommetjies and prop Brummer Badenhorst were the try-scorers for the hosts. Flyhalf Gary van Aswegen kicked three conversions while Francois du Toit added one penalty.

For the tourists, No.8 Kesem Alan scored the only try, while flyhalf Guemes Bautish added the conversion for the Argentineans.

"I am very happy with the performance of the guys taking into consideration that this team included many players who are new to our Under-20 systems," said head coach Eric Sauls.

"Argentina is a powerful scrumming side and I was very pleased with the way in which we competed against them at the scrum. I think we really scrummed well.

"I was also very impressed with the defensive effort of the guys. The Argentineans applied plenty of pressure on us at the start of the second half. But the guys showed lots of composure when Argentina attacked our try line." Sauls though believes that there is still work to be done at the breakdown as the Baby Boks were guilty of conceding numerous penalties in this aspect of play.

"We were severely penalised at the breakdowns and this will be something we'll have to work on as we prepare for Saturday's international at Newlands," added the SA Under-20 coach.

"Maybe it was simply a case of the players being over eager at ruck time, but it's something I believe we can rectify.  We'll enjoy this result and start preparations for Saturday's game tomorrow [Thursday]."

The SA Under-20 team takes on the Argentina U20 in a second international this Saturday at Newlands.

Scorers:

SA Under-20:
Tries: Stander, Van der Merwe, Taute, April, Blommetjies, Badenhorst
Cons: Van Aswegen 3
Pen: Du Toit

Argentina U20:
Try: Alan
Con: Bautish

Teams:

SA U20: 15 Garth April, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Ruan Combrink, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Francois du Toit, 9 Frederick Muller, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Jean Cook, 6 Lean Schwartz, 5 Mlungisi Bali, 4 Peet Marais, 3 Marcell van der Merwe, 2 Francois du Toit,  1 Wessel du Rand.
Replacements - from: Shaun Melton, Brummer Badenhorst, Sebastian de Chaves, Hendrick van der Waldt, Helmut Lehmann, Kenny Okafor, Tiaan Dorfling, Gary van Aswegen, Justin van Staden.

Los Pumitas: 15 Ramiro Moyano, 14 Manuel Montero, 13 Brian Ormson, 12 Federico Haustein, 11 Dan Isaack, 10 Bautista Güemes, 9 Santiago Méndez, 8 Alan Kessen (captain), 7 Tomás de la Vega, 6 Gonzalo Vila, 5 Martín Chiappesoni, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Alexis Barone, 2 Emiliano Coria, 1 Esteban Viale.
Replacements - from: Tomás Baravalle, Tomás Kelly, Eric Rinemberg, Rodrigo Ferro, Javier Ortega Desio, Juan Pablo Álvarez, Javier Linares, Valentín Cruz, Ignacio Rodríguez Muedra, Facundo Panceyra Garrido, Pedro Mercerat.

Referee: Ben Crouse (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Lusanda Jam (South Africa), Marc van Zyl (South Africa)