The scoreboard at Rondebosch Boys’ High School looked less like a rugby result and more like a slot machine stuck on jackpot.
The Junior Springboks team demolished Chile 97-0 on Thursday afternoon in a U20 International Series opener so one-sided it felt like a Formula One car racing a shopping trolley downhill.
By half-time the hosts were already 52 points ahead and the crowd had shifted from suspense to sightseeing.
Lindsey Jansen and captain Risima Khosa both scored hat-tricks, while flyhalf Vusi Moyo piled on 22 points through 11 conversions. His radar off the tee was so accurate it could probably guide aircraft through fog.
Reaction from Kevin Foote: “In a game like that, your plan can perhaps get a little loose, but I thought the players managed it well” – more here: https://t.co/OhgUybBmQI 🗣️#JuniorBoks #JourneyToGreatness pic.twitter.com/RxRB33PA7e
— SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) May 21, 2026
The tone was set in the fourth minute when scrumhalf Jayden Brits tapped quickly inside his own 22 and sliced through untouched. From there, Chile spent much of the afternoon restarting play while green jerseys poured forward in waves.
Luan van der Berg, Gert Kemp, Pieter van der Merwe, Kai Pratt, Altus Rabe and Quintin Potgieter all crossed as the Junior Boks racked up 15 tries. Potgieter’s late brace arrived after a scrum that shoved Chile backwards like a supermarket trolley with a broken wheel.
The satire in this fixture sits in rugby’s obsession with “competitive internationals”. Junior Bok coach Kevin Foote used the clash to test squad depth with what was effectively an experimental second-string side, yet the attack still flowed like traffic down an open highway.
Foote praised the maturity of the group and credited SA Rugby’s development structures for building depth across the wider squad.
“We only got together on Monday, so for a lot of these guys it was an important chance to put up their hands,” said Foote.
Chile deserve credit for never retreating into their shells. They tackled bravely, chased hard and continued competing at lineout time even as the scoreboard became increasingly cruel.
Despite the encounter often resembling a Formula One car racing a shopping trolley downhill, the lopsided score, Foote insisted the outing still offered valuable lessons:
“There were good things in the performance, but we want to keep pushing. Chile don’t always get the same opportunities that we do, but they brought fight, line speed and real effort. We are grateful to them for being here. Fiji and Georgia will also test us in different ways, so there is still lots for us to work on.”
Development rugby occasionally produces these mismatches, where one side arrives carrying a scalpel and the other rolls in with a sledgehammer.
Yet the Junior Boks will not emerge entirely drunk on praise. A few handling errors crept in once the scoreboard ballooned, while defensive organisation was rarely stress-tested.
Fiji, their next opponents at Wynberg Boys’ High School on Tuesday, will provide a far sterner examination than a Chilean side trapped in survival mode for most of the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Georgia national under-20 rugby union team beat Fiji national under-20 rugby union team 29-23 in a bruising curtain-raiser.
For now, though, the Junior Boks have announced themselves with the finesse of a marching band armed with fireworks. Cape Town’s schoolboy rugby faithful arrived hoping for entertainment and left having witnessed a green-and-gold avalanche.
Scorers:
Junior Springboks 97 (52) – Tries: Jayden Brits, Risima Khosa (3), Lindsey Jansen (3), Luan van der Berg, Gert Kemp, Pieter van der Merwe, Kai Pratt, Altus Rabe (2), Quintin Potgieter (2). Conversions: Vusi Moyo (11).
Chile U20 0
