Two-try Barry helps SA to victory

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:47:00 +0200

South Africa's Under-18 High Performance team claimed a 25-5 win over France Under-18 on a windy afternoon in East London. It was not a fluent game but a deserved victory for the South Africans.

South Africa suffered a setback when William Small-Smith, the captain, withdrew just before the match with an injured toe.

Neill Jordaan took over the captaincy but his stay was a brief one as he twisted an ankle in the first 10 minutes and was replaced by Nardus van der Walt. Paul Jordaan, usually an inside centre came into outside centre in Small-Smith's place and was the best back on the field. Marais Schmidt, the Golden Lions flyhalf, came onto the bench in Jordaan's place.

Both teams were better playing into the wind, except that South Africa scored more points with the wind than the French did. South Africa had first use of the wind and flyhalf Johan Goosen kicked five penalty goals in the first half an hour, the fourth from 55 metres out. He missed his next three kicks.

Half-time came with South Africa leading 15-0, five kicks to none. In that half the French were penalised eight times. In the second half South Africa were penalised nine times. Not that the penalties went with the wind!

In the first half the French used short passes and drive. It was effective as the South African tackling consisted mostly of eventual stopping rather than driving tackles. But France's handling let them down. That hampered the flow of the game as did the number of stoppages in the first half for injuries, South Africa made fewer handling errors but then used the boot far more.

In the second half, playing into the wind, South Africa kept the ball in hand far more and dominated possession and territory. They beat the French hands down at the line-out and won several turnovers at the tackle where Wian Liebenberg was a most effective lone ranger - a brilliant, energetic flank, but mostly on his own. The other forward who stood out was lock Ruan Botha.

South Africa had a great chance to score a try early on but Craig Barry opted not to pass with a huge overlap on his right.

Early in the half, Van der Walt was sent to the sin bin for punching.

Lock Ruan Venter started the first south African try when he plucked a kick out of the air and started a counter attack that went right and then came back left where Barry, off perfect passes by Jordaan and Goosen, raced over in the corner. 20-0 after 46 minutes.

After Andile Jho was penalised at a tackle, France attacked and, from a poor start, Joris Fusier beat Tshotsho Mbovane and darted over for a try. 20-5 after 57 minutes.

Soon after Botha won a line-out and passed down from the top and the South Africans went right. Jordaan beat two, straightened and passed to Barry who went over in the right corner.

The only bit of excitement in the last 14 minutes was a sharp break by Jordaan. He would probably have scored had he not slipped.

The scorers:

For the South Africa Under-18 High Performance team:
Tries: Craig Barry 2
Pens: Johan Goosen 5

For France Under-18:
Try: Joris Fusier

The teams:

South Africa U18: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Tshotsho Mbovane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andile Jho, 11 Luqmaan Ismail, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Neill Jordaan (captain), 7 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 6 Wian Liebenberg, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Allan Dell, 2 Justin van Wyk, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Charles Thomas, 17 Gideon Muller, 18 Jason Thomas, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Fabian Booysen, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Marais Schmidt, 23 Patrick Howard.

Coaches: Paul Treu, Eric Sauls, AJ Mercuur, Janse van der Ryst

France U18: 15 Freddy Cabantous, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Mathieu Guillomot-Bonnefon, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Joris Fusier, 10 Vincent Mallet, 9 Bastien Duhalde, 8 Paul Jedrasiak (captain), 7 Alban Placine, 6 John Laugel, 5 Eric Dos Santos, 4 Julien Nibert, 3 Pascal Cotet, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Mathieu Barres.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Baptiste Custoja, 17 Valentin Insardi, 18 Alexis Valette, 19 Romain Hollet, 20 Leo Bastien, 21 Steevy Cerqueira, 22 Clément Vernezoul, 23 Enzo Selponi, 24 Maxime Wieprecht, 25 Alexandre Dardet, 26 Julien Farnoux.

Coaches: Eddy Joliveau, Sebastien Dupoux

Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Siphokazi Njani (South Africa), Tony Dumlay (South Africa)
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee (South Africa)