Sporting Action - All Grown Up

Baby Boks, Pieter Coetzé, and The Pursuit of Glory

By Koketso Mamabolo

For the first time in over a decade the Junior Springboks sit at the apex of the age-group game after defeating archrivals New Zealand in a replay of the 2012 final when young Pieter-Steph du Toit, Steven Kitshoff, and Handre Pollard (then only 18-years old and in his matric year) announced their arrival on the global stage.

Under the guidance of head coach Kevin Foote and his assistants - Melusi Mthethwa, Lumumba Currie, and newly-appointed Bulls Director of Rugby, Johann Ackerman - the Baby Boks put on a show for the ages in Italy. In the opening match they decimated the same Australian U20 side that had embarrassed them in the Rugby Championship held earlier this year in Cape Town.

Kevin Foote’s young men were scoring blockbuster tries for fun, eventually putting up a statement making 73 points - a feat they repeated in the third match against Scotland. Neither of the opposing sides put up much of a fight, recording consolation points of 17 and 14 points respectively.

The second match against a better prepared side, England - one of the northern hemisphere’s many talent factories - proved a challenge but the Baby Boks’ class and ‘big-match-temperment’ kicked in to see them fend off the 2024 winners who were hoping to have a shot at going back-to-back.

Against Argentina the future stars were up against a different test after Los Pumas had made a name for themselves in the tournament with their astute tactical kicking game. A herculean showing from the forward pack and dazzling speed and skills from the backline sealed Los Pumas fate and cemented the Junior Springboks as the tournament’s most in-form team and favourites to beat a Junior All Blacks side that had dispatched with the ever-competitive Les Bleus of France.

Speaking at the post-match conference, Foote highlighted how the team had shown their tenacity and great attitude in the defensive effort that helped them win the title. “We sort of staged our run into this World Cup with certain aspects that we were working hard in our game and our defense obviously in the [Rugby] Championship was not where we needed it to be.”

But while defence certainly wins championships, this year’s talented cohort will be remembered for what they did with the ball, rather than without.

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One of the stars of the show was certainly scrumhalf Hashim Pead, whose penchant for scoring and assisting tries is comparable only to the living legend that is Antoine du Pont and could end up being the most promising player of this incredibly talented bunch. He’s at the right place at the right time, makes the right decisions and does it all with a coolness that makes his blistering speed seem almost like a contradiction

With the senior Springbok Men’s resident ‘iceman’ Handre Pollard in the second half of his career, the next cool-as-ice-flyhalf has already arrived on the scene. Vusi Moyo, who played alongside hooker Esethu Mnebelele at KES, looks like he has all the traits to one day pull the strings for the Boks: a smooth pass, educated boot, calm demeanour, and willingness to deal with contact which will warm the heart of any coach

Batho Hlekani’s bulldozing runs went viral on social media with many discovering why he’s described as a baby rhino. He demolished defence and if he get his work rate up he could be the stuff of nightmares for opposing teams for many years to come. His undeniable physical gifts and high ceiling ultimately earned him an invitation to train with the senior men’s side in the lead up to the Rugby Championship games against Australia, alongside teammates Hashim Pead and winger Cheswill Jooste.

Formidable former KES 1st XV captain Esethu Mnebelele showed he’s as fast as he is strong and his efforts earned him a spot in the Bulls’ senior Currie Cup side, in just his first year out of school. He’s a menace in the tight exchanges, and has all the physical attributes to succeed at the highest level.

Riley Norton led the team with aplomb. The all-around athlete, who represented South Africa at the u19 Cricket World Cup last year before captaining the SA Schools rugby side, was strong in defence and willing in attack. He will certainly get better as he grows into his 1.97m frame and prove that he chose the right sport to play professionally after showing great promise alongside Proteas bolters Kwena Mphaka and Lhuandre Pretorius at the Cricket World Cup last year.

A Quarter Of A Minute From Glory

When Roland Schoeman won three medals at the World Aquatics Championships in 2005, the country’s new swimming sensation, Pieter Coetzé was still too young to even wear armbands. Now, two decades later it seems he has taken over the reins from South Africa’s greatest ever Olympian, Tatjana Smith.

Despite a disappointing fifth place finish in Paris last year, the tall 21-year old Pretoria-born swimmer has repeated the dominance he’s shown at the local and continental level in recent years.

After blowing the competition out of the water at the national championships in Gqeberha earlier this year, with five wins in the same five events he won in 2024, Coetzé took his affinity for the podium to the world stage, bringing home three of the country’s four medals at the World Aquatic Championships.

He broke the African record in all three of the breaststroke finals he took part in, clinching one gold in the 100m and silver in the 50m and 200m respectively. This was after he’d set the World University Games, setting the African record which he would break again just weeks later. With the African records seemingly easy work for him, Coetzé will likely set his sights on Italian Thomas Ceccon’s 100m breaststroke world record - putting in the work to close that 0.25 second gap.

Sources: Forever Sports | Daily Maverick | Supersport | News24