Baby Boks defy the odds

The Baby Bok team has had a disappointing Junior World Championship so far, losing their first game to Ireland. They beat Italy convincingly but going into the game against England last night it seemed impossible that they would progress to the semi-finals. They would need a bonus point win over the English to go top of their group and move on to the semi's. This was a tall order especially when they lost their captain Wian Liebenberg and replacement fly half Tony Jantjies to injury just before the game.

The performance in the first half didn't give much hope as they were outplayed in every aspect of the game by the English. Only the Boks resilient defence held England out, sometimes just inches from the line. Going into the half time break it seemed that all hope was lost and that they would not reach the semi's.

The second half however was a different story, stand in captain William Small-Smith ignited the Baby Boks with a scintillating break and superb try. The play just got better and better, everything that was going wrong in the first half seemed to be going right in the second. A great break by Steven Kitshoff getting stopped inches from the try line only to be carried over by stand out player Shaun Adendorff. The third came from forward Pieter-Steph Du Toit who found himself in the back line and broke the line easily to score.

Shaun Adendorff was the hero when he broke the line again to run in for the fourth and bonus point try. The Boks fought back hard to beat a very physical English team, they showed a lot of composure and maturity under pressure. This could be the spark they need to take them through to the finals. They face Argentina in the Semi-finals who will not be an easy opponent.