The Springbok under-20 team were knocked out of the IRB Junior World Championship in Tokyo Japan by going down 40 – 21 to England on Wednesday.

England will take on the reigning champions New Zealand in Sunday’s final after the Kiwis outclassed Australia 31-7. The Baby Boks will play Australia in Sunday’s third-place playoff fixture in Tokyo at 15h00* (RSA time — 08h00).

“The guys are really disappointed with the result, but I believe we were defeated by the better team on the day,” said SA under-20 coach Eric Sauls after the match.

“We lost too many line-outs, made some silly mistakes and lost momentum during important stages in the match. Also losing a player like Rynhardt Elstadt, who was red-carded, was a huge blow to us. It was always going to be difficult defending and attacking against a side like England with one man down for 15 minutes.

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