Kevin Foote praised his side's composure and maturity after the SA U20s beat hosts Georgia 33-5 in a bruising Junior World Championship Pool A clash in Tbilisi on Thursday, their second consecutive pool win.
Despite the five-tries-to-one margin, Foote was candid about the nature of the performance. "It wasn't a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination," he said, acknowledging that Georgia disrupted South Africa's rhythm and prevented them from settling into their attacking structure throughout.
Three Georgian players were yellow carded during the match, one of which was upgraded to a 20-minute red card at the start of the second half. Foote credited his players for not retaliating under sustained physical and emotional pressure from the tournament hosts. "We knew it was going to be physical and quite emotional, but I think that we stayed on the right side of the referee. That's important because it shows maturity when you don't retaliate, and obviously when the opportunities came, we managed to capitalise on them."
While satisfied with the result, Foote treated it as a prompt for refinement rather than celebration. "It's certainly good to get a second game under our belts, but it was maybe a little wake-up call for us. We need to sharpen up in certain areas."
South Africa's final pool fixture against Wales now carries semifinal qualification on the line. Wales have beaten Georgia and Uruguay to sit second in Pool A, setting up what Foote views as knockout rugby in all but name. "From here it's knockout rugby. Wales are a good team, and they've done really well in the tournament so far, so we're expecting a big challenge." Foote confirmed that everyone in the squad has had game time heading into the deciding match.