Despite comfortably wrapping up the U20 Rugby Championship title with a match to spare, there will be no slacking off in the Junior Springbok ranks when they face arch-rivals New Zealand in Gqeberha on Saturday, skipper Riley Norton says.
The on-fire Boks lifted the title for the first time on Sunday thanks to an emphatic bonus point win over Argentina and Australia in the opening two rounds of the four-team tournament at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Norton warned that if the Baby Boks were lulled into a sense of false security, they would come unstuck against a powerful New Zealand side (kickoff 4.10pm).
The Baby Blacks’ hopes of successfully defending their title were shattered when they crashed to a shock defeat against an energised Argentina side on Sunday.
A wary Norton is expecting the wounded New Zealanders to come out with guns blazing as they attempt to salvage lost pride in Saturday’s tournament finale.
“If you take your foot off the gas against a team like New Zealand, they will punish you,” he warned.
“The Junior Boks want to finish this tournament properly and keep on improving.
“You will naturally be up for a game against New Zealand, because they are one of our biggest rivals and we have a lot of respect for them.
“If we take our foot off the pedal now, rugby can come back and bite you.
“We must go even harder and push ourselves and finish off this tournament with a lot of pride.”
Norton thanked the partisan 10,000 crowd who cheered the Boks to victory over the Wallabies for their unwavering support.
“People have come out in big numbers for the opening two rounds and you don’t want to disappoint them or ourselves in the final round on Saturday,” he said.
“There is a lot of motivation in the team, so I don’t think that [complacency] will be a factor at all in our final game.
“The Junior Boks want to finish as best as we can and keep on improving.
“I know on points we have won the Rugby Championship, but we want to finish off the tournament with a proper showing.
“Winning any tournament is great and you have to embrace those moments because in rugby you never know when they will come again.
“Last year lifting the World Cup trophy after a 12-year wait was extremely special.
“I think this one in front of our home crowd will be equally as special on Saturday.
“Our job now is to prepare well for the week ahead and look and see what New Zealand will offer on Saturday.
“You can never count them out because they are an unbelievable team.
“Only after the match will we look at lifting the trophy.
“For us, it’s about character and care when we play for South Africa.
“The off-field connection has been unbelievable, and that carries onto the field.
“We’ve got an awesome group of guys who are willing to sacrifice for each other.
“It means a lot playing at home here in Gqeberha.
“You feel the crowd, and it pushes you to give more for the guy next to you.”
Thanks to the commanding 56-17 bonus point win over the Junior Wallabies, the Boks opened an unbeatable lead at the top of the log ahead of the final round of matches.
After beating Australia in their opening match, New Zealand crashed to a shock 25-17 loss against Argentina in Sunday’s early second-round match.
Saturday’s fixtures: 2pm: Argentina vs Australia; 4.10pm: Junior Boks vs New Zealand.
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