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SA lifts rugby's first u-21 crown
1 July 2002
The famous Queen hit "We are the Champions" could not have been more appropriate at an emotional Ellis Park on Friday night as South Africa beat Australia 24-21 to become the first IRB under-21 World Champions.
They were the most solid performers in the tournament, beating Romania 135-0, France 28-9, Ireland 42-22, New Zealand 19-18 and the Australians to claim the trophy.
With players of the calibre of captain Clyde Rathbone, winger Ashwin Willemse, loose forwards Roland Bernard and Jacques Cronje, and the unerring boot of flyhalf Francois Swart, they were the best team in what was universally considered a wonderful tournament.
Clyde Rathbone, Springbok under-21 captain and centre (Photo: International Rugby Board)
The whole South African squad gave a deserved lap of honour at the
same ground where the Springboks won the Webb Ellis Trophy some seven years ago. Most of today's champions were still in their early teens then.
The Australians were great competitors and never gave in. Although they never led, they took the game to the South Africans and in the second half they were close to scoring on a number of occasions. It wasn't to be, but they can return home with their heads held high.
The South African intentions were made clear from the start. Francois Swart was on song with his first penalty, which he kicked in the seventh minute from almost halfway. His next kick came from closer range after a sustained attack from the Bokkies yielded a penalty in front of the post for offside.
Soon, South Africa gave James Brock a simple penalty for playing the ball in a ruck, which he took with ease.
The home team never stopped trying and took the game to the Australians. The poised defence of the Wallabies closed gaps for the "Baby Boks".
Yet, after a sustained attack, which included a delicious break by captain Clyde Rathbone, Australia were caught offside, giving Swart his third penalty of the night.
The first try soon followed. Rathbone, again, broke the first line of defence to give a clear run for full-back Jorrie Muller. A good cover tackle by half-back Matthew Henjak seemed to have stopped the movement, but with precision and speed, Ashwin Willemse took the loose pass to score the five-pointer. Swart extended the lead to 16-3.
Swart and James exchanged one penalty apiece before the break.
The second half opened with South Africa once again taking the game to the Australians. When Muller's penalty rebounded from the posts, Australia were able to make a lot of yardage, as the Bokkies, so confident in their kicker, were not paying as much attention as they might have done.
From the ensuing lineout, Swart spun the ball wide, right winger Jean de Villiers appeared on the left to give the
scoring pass to his captain, Rathbone. With the conversion, South Africa led 24-9.
In the 50th minute flanker Roland Bernard was sin-binned and the Australian sensed this was a great opportunity to get back into the match. Prop Anthony Mathison crashed through two tackles to touch down, after a sustained attack by his team.
Australia continued to pound the South African try-line, but the defence stood their ground. With a full team on the field again, it was left winger Peter Hynes who scored in the corner after a good pass by Henjak. The unconverted try, with 10 minutes to go, left the score at 24-21 to South Africa.
One minute later, prop Patrick Barnard was found off-side and from 45 metres, Brock James missed the penalty that could have given levelled the scores. Soon after he also missed a drop-goal.
South Africa found it extremely hard to venture into Australian territory - Muller shaved the goal posts with a 50-metre penalty.
The 20 000-strong
crowd went into full celebratory mode when the final whistle went and South Africa became the first IRB under-21 World Cup champions.
South African goal kicker Francois Swart, who had a mixed day with five successful kicks out of 10, said: "My kicking today was disappointing but then look at the scoreboard. To describe how I feel I could use all the adjectives: ecstatic, exciting, exhilarating, exhausted you name it. The truth is you have to have experienced it to understand the feeling."
Winning Coach Jake White thanked the big support his team has enjoyed. "SA Rugby gave us all we needed to have a successful campaign and the crowd support was unbelievable. We came to this tournament seeded seventh and we had to take the long road to win it. Having to beat New Zealand and Australia within four days was a huge task and the players should take all the credit."
South African Captain Clyde Rathbone said: "Our legs were heavy in the last few minutes and Australia took
the game to us, but the home support pulled us through. The whole squad was very emotional in the changing room."
Australian Captain Tamaiti Horua said: "We are disappointed, we set the goal of winning this World Cup and didn't. But we had to be proud of our performance throughout. Had it not been for a few mistakes and the fact that South Africa adapted better to the circumstances we could have won it. We will still celebrate a good tournament."
Finally Silas Nkanuau, President of the SA Rugby Football Union and IRB Council member, said: "The organising team of this World Cup must be congratulated, they did a great job, but hats have to go off to the team. This is a great day for South African rugby."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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Showcasing the future of the game
The finest young rugby talent in the world was on display in Johannesburg in June 2002, with 12 nations contesting the under-21 World Championship.
If you don't believe it, take a look at the names of some of the players who have taken part in the forerunner of the World Championship, the Sanzar under-21 Championships: Conrad Jantjes, Marius Joubert, Stefan Terblanche, Breyton Paulse, Joe van Niekerk and Lawrence Sephaka from SA; Richie McCaw, Anton Oliver, Andrew Blowers, Troy Flavell, Leon McDonald, Doug Howlett and Nathan Mauger from New Zealand; and Nathan Grey, Sam Cordingley, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin and Tom
Bowman from Australia.
The World Championship competition developed from the original Sanzar under-21 Championship, first contested in 1996 and featuring South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
As interest in the event grew, England became the fifth team to take part in 1998. The following year there were eight contestants and this year, with the addition of a further four teams, the World Championship features 12 sides. They are, in order of seeding: New Zealand, Australia, France, Wales, England, Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, Italy, Fiji, Romania and Japan.
New Zealand won the 2001 competition, defeating Australia 30-13 in the final. South Africa's results were disappointing: a 41-14 win over Samoa, followed by two losses, 46-30 to Australia and 37-23 to France.
Due to their record of only one win in three starts in the 2001 event, the young South Africans were seeded seventh for the 2002
competition.
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South Africa's under-21 squad
Pat Barnard (WP), Roland Bernard (Lions), Gary Botha (Blue Bulls), Jacques Cronjé (Blue Bulls), Jean de Villiers (WP), Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls), Jaco du Toit (SWD), Christiaan Els (Leopards), Quinton Geldenhuys (Sharks), Rayno Gerber (Cheetahs), Gordon Gillfillan (WP), Dean Hopp (SWD), Enrico January (Boland), Tsepo Kokoali (Lions), Jorrie Muller (Lions), Odwa Ndungane (Border), JP Nel (Blue Bulls), Clyde Rathbone (Sharks), Maurice Reid (Boland), Jean Smith (Cheetahs), Guthro Steenkamp (Cheetahs), Francois Swart (WP), Dewey Swartbooi (Blue Bulls), Stefan van Rooyen (Leopards), Pedri Wannenburg (Blue Bulls), Ashwin Willemse (Boland).
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