The series, which is hosted by SA Rugby at Paul Roos Gymnasium’s Markötter Stadium, is supported by World Rugby, Rugby Africa and UK Sport, with R10 the title sponsor.

The SA U20s defeated a gritty Tunisian side in a drama-filled clash on Monday, when they not only had to deal with the North Africans’ tenacity, but also the inclement weather which brought ice cold winds and rain to the area.

According to Flash Malinga, the Junior Bok Women’s coach, they will attempt to rectify their identified mistakes and shortcomings by focussing on their fundamentals, starting with the next match Friday against the San Clemente Rhinos.

“The girls played in SA Rugb’s U20 Women’s Week in Johannesburg before our brief two-day camp, prior to the start of the series, and despite the short time together they showed character and determination in our first match and we did well to win in the end,” said Malinga.

“Credit to Tunisia who made it very hard for us on the day, but also credit to our team for showing real fighting spirit to get the win, which will do a lot for their confidence.”

According to Malinga, their next opponents will also provide the Junior Bok Women with a strong challenge. The Rhinos beat an invitational SA Barbarians side by 86-10 on Monday.

“The Rhinos have a formidable pack of forwards, and their scrummaging will be a big test for us,” said Malinga.

“We’ve gone back to the drawing board and have worked on improving our fundamentals. We focus a lot of our preparation on the different positional skills set, so that the player can develop into a specialist in their role, and by doing that, contribute more towards the team effort.

“The players are so eager to learn, and we are looking forward to seeing them implement the key learnings in the next game against a strong Rhinos outfit.”.

Second-round R10 African U20 Women’s Series fixtures (Friday 4 October in Stellenbosch):
10h00: Uganda vs Tunisia
12h00: Junior Springbok Women vs San Clemente Rhinos