French edge out 'Baby Boks'

Vainon Willis scored a try for the 'Baby Boks'

The touring French under-20 team beat their South African Counterparts 15-10 in a closely contested match at the Velddrift Sports grounds near Saldana on Tuesday evening.

The French were initially on the back foot at the half-time break, with the 'Baby Boks' ahead 5-0 courtesy of an Omphile Seabela try.

However, France showed great determination and composure in the second-half and finally converted their superior ball possession into points, with tries from No.8 Wenceslas Lauret and right wing Leo Griffoul.

The French managed to convert one of the tries, while the South Africans failed to convert either, which was a telling factor in the outcome of the match.

Vainon Willis's second-half try wasn't enough for the South Africans as French scrumhalf Ludoric Rado extended the lead with a penalty, sealing the win for the visitors.

The French, who will play one more match against South Africa on Saturday before they fly home, are also scheduled to host the 'Baby Boks' in April.

Both teams are preparing themselves for the inaugural International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-20 World Championship which will be hosted by Wales in June this year.

The two teams will play their second and final match of the tour on Saturday.

The Scorers:

For South Africa:

Tries: Seabela, Willis

France:

Tries: Lauret, Griffoul

Con: Griffoul

Pen: Rado

South Africa: Gerrit Jan van Velze, Berend Botha, Cornell Hess, Divan Kotze, Henry Bantjes, Stefan Watermeyer, Vainon Willis, Gerhardus van der Merwe, Stephanus Dippenaar, Oscar Mfundice, Omphile Seabela, Marnitz Boshoff, Corne Fourie, Dewaldt Duvenage, Herzon Amell, Robert Ebersohn, Cameron Jacobs, Wilton Peterson, Pieter-Willem van Vuuren, Earl-Jivan Snyman, Bernardo Botha, Justin Wheeler, Johan van Deventer Robert Kruger, Bennie Geldenhuys Uys, Mlindazwe Nqoro, Sabelo Nhlapo, Thiliphatu Marole, Wiehahn Herbst, Maphelo Mpondo, Jean Jacques Rossouw, Lisle Clark, Martin Muller, Matthew Turner, Mzwanele Zito, Yaasir Hartzenberg, Chark Weideman, Clayton Steward

France:15 Maxime Lequeux, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Guillaume Namy, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Ludovic Rado (c), 8 Nicolas Dimitri, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Yann Brethous, 5 Michael Demarco, 4 Jérôme Mondoulet, 3 Vincent Pelo, 2 Antonin Raffault, 1 Yvan Watremez

Replacements (from): Sébastien Miro, Baptiste Hezard, Rabah Slimani, Gaetan Guyon, Laurent Tranier, Florian Cazenave, Sofiane Guitoune, Wenceslas Lauret, Jeremy Guillot, Benoît Guyot, Geoffrey Doumayrou

Referee: Francois Veldsman