"We don't want to make promises, but we will go out there to make South Africa proud."
Those were the last words Baby Boks captain Handre Pollard spoke before the SA under-20 side jetted out of OR Tambo airport three weeks ago en route to New Zealand for the Junior World Championships.
Pollard kept his word by reaching the final of the tournament. Now the Baby Boks hope to make South Africa prouder by beating defending champions England when the two teams meet in the last match of the tournament at Eden Park in Auckland at 9.35am today.
An epic battle is on the cards.
The Boks, who beat the Baby Blacks twice, Scotland and Samoa, are unbeaten in the series. So are England.
The defending champs have had an impeccable run, beating Italy, Australia and Argentina in the pool stages before knocking out Ireland in the semifinals.
A bruising physical battle between the two forward packs is expected.
The Baby Boks tip the scales with a hefty combined weight of 888kg - and a front row clocking 350kg. The English are a tad lighter with a combined size of 847kg and 323kg in the front row.
Baby Boks coach Dawie Theron said the teams are much alike and both players and spectators can brace for a bruising spectacle.
"They [England] want to be really dominant up front as we like to do. They scored a lot of tries from the set piece and that is also a very important facet for us," Theron said.
"I already spoke to the guys and said if we can dominate up front, we have got the best chance of winning."
This is flyhalf Pollard's second final, following on the Baby Boks' 2012 title win.
"This is probably the biggest match of my career," he said.
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