Junior Boks beat France to take bronze

• South Africa 37 (7) France 15 (8)

A remarkable second-half performance by the Junior Springboks in which they scored four tries and 30 points, earned them the bronze medal at the World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Tbilisi on Sunday.

The 37-15 victory completed a rare triple for South African rugby over France, after SA "A" beat the French Barbarians on Friday and the Springboks beat France in the second Test on Saturday.

It was a deserved bronze medal for the Junior Boks, who at times played some outstanding rugby throughout the tournament. They came within three minutes of reaching the final before England broke their hearts in a tough semifinal, but the way they bounced back for the dreaded third/fourth match said a lot about their character.

Coach Chean Roux made four changes for the match and wasn't scared to ring changes early after the scrum and the lineout struggled in the opening exchanges of their second meeting against France at the tournament. The sides drew 23-23 in their opening Pool fixture.

With the lineout struggling, Roux pulled off lock Ruben van Heerden after 30 minutes even though he opened the scoring with a try in the 16th minute, sending on the lanky Reinhard Nothnagel.

France struck back with a try from hooker Peato Mauvuka and hit the front five minutes before half-time when flyhalf Baptiste Couilloud landed a penalty. They carried the slender one point advantage into half-time.

But after the break it was one-way traffic towards the French line as the Bok forwards took control with outstanding No 8 Juarno Augustus leading the charge. Augustus is one of five nominees for the player of the tournament and he didn't disappoint with another barnstorming display that included the team's fifth and final try in the 73rd minute.

It was Augustus's seventh try of the tournament and ensured he scored in each of the five matches South Africa played. The Western Province looseforward is going to be a sought-after commodity in the coming months.