South African rugby has something to shout about again. After weathering a storm of blistering running attacks by New Zealand in the second half with brave defending at Kings Park in Durban on Sunday, the Baby Springboks regained the IRB World Under 19 title they won in Paris two years ago.
They held on for a thrilling second half in their 20-15 triumph watched by an estimated crowd of 18 000.
Right from the outset the Baby Boks made their intentions clear: To rattle the All Black machine at every opportunity.
And they could not have got off to a better start than when hooker Mahaltse Ralepelle put his body on the line to block an All Black line clearnce and set up an opening try for centre Petrus Vermeulen.
The Boks kept the New Zealand forwards in check and when the real crunch came in the second half they produced some of the finest defensive tackles seen in South African colours in many a long day.
There were spectacular tries by both side — and one bad miss by the All Blacks when the ball was dropped over the line. First the Boks and then the All Blacks looked to be in control in the action-filled second half.
The Baby Boks won with two goals, a drop goal and a penalty goal to a goal, a try and a penalty. Centres Francois Steyn and Petrus Vermeulen got the South African tries and the other points went to Steyn with a drop goal in the first half and a Jody Rose penalty after he had converted the two tries.
Lock Nicholas Crosswell and flank and skipper George Whitelock got the New Zealand tries with flyhalf Steve Alfield kicking a penalty and scrumhalf Baydon Phillips a conversion.
An early charge-down spelt trouble for the Baby Boks and led to an offside penalty to the New Zealanders but flyhalf Steve Alfeld dragged his kick wide of the left upright and in turn centre Francois Steyn was short for South Africa.
Then in the seventh minute South Africa struck a decisive blow. As the New Zealanders attempted to clear off their line, Alfeld’s kick was charged down by hooker Mahaltse Ralepelle and the ball ricocheted off the boot of centre Vermeulen who managed to dive on the ball between two Kiwi defenders. Flyhalf Jody Rose then converted.
The junior Boks, showing great flair and determination, pinned the New Zealanders in midfield and when in range of the posts were ready to throw everything into attack.
A chance was missed when a pass to flying wing Randall April was misdirected but Steyn made up for that with a calmly-taken drop goal after a safe pass from scrumhalf Warren Malgas (10-0).
They did not lose momentum when reduced to 14 men when flank Hilton Lobberts was yellow-carded for a late tackle and there was relief when Alfield was again wide from a penalty attempt.
However they could not prevent a try from the first real New Zealand forward charge after a series of wide passes had produced alarming defensive gaps on the part of the Boks. The man who got over was lock Nick Crosswell and this time Alfield was successful.
Within seconds the green and gold men had restored their 10 point lead on the stroke of halftime.
Fullback Jacob Janse van Rensburg began and rounded off a right wing raid in which wing Luvuyo Mholbiso played a prominent part for a well-engineered second try and Rose also steered the touchline conversion over the bar to leave it at 17-10 with the second half to follow.
New Zealand lost a near certain try at the very start of the second half when wing Sekope Kepu dropped the ball as he crossed the line. A Rose penalty was most welcome after a great intercept by Steyn all but led to a third Bok try.
The Junior All Blacks were now prepared to run at the Boks and were rewarded with an unconverted try to skipper and flank George Whitelock, who moments later had to be replaced as he appeared to have suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Now the Baby Boks were forced to defend for all they were worth as one New Zealand raid after another spelled danger, especially when scrumhalf Baydon Phillips reduced the margin to five points with a successful penalty goal.
With 13 minutes left Steyn was given a tough penalty shot from neary 50m out but his kick was short and then followed a match of great intensity to the final whistle. – Sapa