Junior Springbok assistant coaches Barend Pieterse and Lumumba Currie hosted a World Rugby legacy seminar for Georgian coaches in Tbilisi on Thursday, with the session centred on the technical demands of lineout, scrum, and maul play.
SARU Deputy President Francois Davids opened the proceedings, framing the event within the broader context of the two unions' growing cooperation at age-group level. The Junior Boks have travelled to Georgia for two-match series in both 2024 and earlier this year, while Georgia have sent sides to compete in both the SA Rugby U20 International Series in May and the U18 International Series last August.
Pieterse, who guided South Africa's forwards through a Junior World Championship-winning campaign in Italy last year, said the Georgian coaches' appetite for set-piece detail was no surprise given the shared identity of both rugby cultures. "The scrum, lineout, and maul are vital to how both nations play," he said.
Currie echoed that sentiment, noting the value of cross-border knowledge exchange for the broader growth of the game.
Georgia Rugby Union coaching development manager George Nozadze, who also serves as the Georgia Sevens coach, described the session as an outstanding masterclass and said local coaches left motivated to apply what they had learned in their own environments.
With the seminar complete, the Junior Boks' focus shifts to their Junior World Championship semi-final against England on Monday evening in Tbilisi, kick-off 18h30, live on SuperSport.