The coach said after the game he was happy with the score and proud of the team – especially since some of the players were playing in the competition for the first time.

“It was a mature effort and our squad is in a good place. I thought our back row were excellent around the breakdown,” said Foote.

“They are a humble bunch and immediately after the game in the changeroom room they were happy, but there was a real purpose amongst them to move onto the next job.

“Some of those tries were great and most of them were as a result of the work done at the breakdown and massive effort upfront, which gave the boys such a good platform. And when they got the space in front of them, they really are exciting on attack.

“The support lines of the guys were excellent. The whole team were just so clinical in how they went about it. Scotland were brave in the second half and hey held us up three times and stayed in the fight,” reflected the Junior Boks mentor.

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On the question of team selection for the semi-final, Foote said: “It is a difficult problem to have and I keep on going on about the talent we have in the country. It will be a very difficult job and will be hard to leave guys out.”

Thando Biyela, the captain on the day, led by example and said afterwards it was a tough game, despite the convincing scoreline.

“It was a good win but a tough game,” said Biyela.

“I thought we started the game well and had a good opening 20 minutes, which set us up for the rest of the game. But I must give credit to Scotland who tested us in the second half.

“Of course there’s always room for improvement. We want to put in an 80-minute performance and play to our full potential.”

As the top-seeded team, the Junior Boks will now face Argentina who qualify by virtue of being the best-placed second-ranked team. New Zealand will play France in the other semi-final.

The playoffs are scheduled for Monday, 14 July in Viadana.

Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images