Saturday, 14th April 2007 at 2:31 pm

Baby Boks bounce back

They’ve almost gone unnoticed, to be honest, what with the Super 14, the World Cup, the America’s Cup, the Champions League, the Masters, the Absa Cape Epic, the Telkom SA Nationals, the PSL race… But the national under-19 rugby side, often a source of rugby inspiration (along with the under-21s) in the past, have been contesting their annual World Championship, and an early loss to France left them grateful to be largely out of the sporting spotlight.

But there’s a good deal of raw talent in the junior ranks, and the Baby Boks came back from the defeat to France by thumping Ireland 33-5 - not a welcome result for the host nation, perhaps, but cheerfully celebrated in South Africa. The loss to France was deserved after an ordinary performance, and the Baby Boks certainly aren’t favourites this year, but the Ireland win suggests they may be capable of going a little further yet.

And keep an eye out for the star turns in the under-19 side (SuperSport are showing the games), for this is a World Cup year, which means a number of senior South African players will be looking to head north and finish their careers with lucrative European contracts. That will leave space for new talent to come through in the 2008 season, and while a lot of the Baby Bok side will still be teenagers, the name Francois Steyn will inspire them to believe that having an early crack at Super 14 isn’t out of the question. Watch carefully.