Lying second of their pool, the Junior Springboks are assured of staying within the hunt for the playoffs on Thursday after they face Italy of their second match of the World Rugby U-20 Championships in Paarl (kick-off at 4pm).
Though they earned a 33-23 victory over Georgia final week, they had been one level behind Argentina in Pool C, after the Argentine staff defeated Italy 43-15 of their opening match.
Junior Boks assistant coach Lumumba Currie was assured the sell-out crowd would get their cash’s value within the conflict against Italy.
“We are expecting a cracker of a game. We are coming with energy and effort and Italy are a team who play with lots of passion and skill. So, we are expecting a fierce battle,” Currie stated.
With one win below their belts, Currie felt the house facet had been prepared to construct some momentum within the early levels of the global age group tournament.
“We did struggle in certain areas against Georgia, but then, that first game was always going to be a tough one for us, as we have not played at that level for a while and intensity was something we needed to get used to,” he stated.
“Now that it is out of the way, we are looking at stepping up in our effort and output.”
Fierce problem
Currie, nevertheless, predicted the Italian problem could be fierce, as their opponents could be determined to choose up some factors.
“They will be hurting because of the big loss against Argentina as they are a better team than that,” he stated.
“They came within one score of beating England and France in the Six Nations and play with lots of skill and flair. But we have our plan ready for this match and have worked hard to deliver the best outcome for us.”
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Italy made 10 modifications to their facet and two positional modifications forward of the match, however for Currie that was of little significance.
“We are just looking at ourselves and what we need to do in this game to get the win. We are looking for good improvement from the last match and I am confident that the result will be a positive one for us.”
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