Ruddock: We have put it up to two of the best teams

Although the Ireland Under-20s have failed to register a point in Pool C of the IRB Junior World Championship, head coach Mike Ruddock has been pleased with their performances so far.

The Ireland youngsters can certainly take some credit out of the 33-25 defeat to Six Nations champions England and last night's 42-26 loss to a powerful South Africa team, especially as both sides are on course to reach the semi-finals.

A brace of tries from winger Andrew Conway was the highlight of the South African game in humid Treviso, with place-kickers James McKinney and Paddy Jackson booting the other 16 points.

Conway danced past four defenders to score before half-time and struck again in the second half, helping to cut the gap to 35-26. But a final converted try from Baby 'Boks captain Arno Botha ended Ireland's hopes of gaining a late losing bonus point.

Both Ireland and Scotland are without a pool point ahead of their crunch clash in Rovigo on Saturday night. Ruddock's charges beat the Scots 15-0 in Inverness during the Six Nations and will be gunning for a bonus point victory, with a spot in the 5th-8th place play-offs still up for grabs.

If results in the two other pools go their way, a five-point haul could be enough to send the Irish into the second tier knockout stages. Ireland's record in the Junior World Championship is relatively poor - ninth (2008), eighth (2009) and ninth (2010) - so Niall Annett and his team-mates are still hoping for a top eight finish.

Reflecting on last night's game, Ruddock said: "I thought we were matching them right until the end, until that last try, which was a bit of a heartbreaker. We've played two of the best rugby nations around and we certainly haven't discredited ourselves. We've played quite well and really put it up to the both of them.

"South Africa, I’m sure if you go into their changing room, they’ll know they’ve been in a battle, England know they’ve been in a battle. South Africa had to dig deep again today to beat us.

"We’re showing glimpses of really good rugby but making basic errors to let the other team back in. That's international rugby - if you don't play to the top of your game over 80 minutes, you get burnt."

The former Wales supremo said that his side need to improve their lineout and kicking out of the 22 ahead of the Scotland game, but they can take a number of positives into this weekend's tie. One of the plusses is the form of Leinster starlet Conway, who is now joint second on the list of all-time Junior World Championship try scorers with eight tries in seven outings.

RUGBY:

IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POOL C:

IRELAND U-20s 26 SOUTH AFRICA U-20s 42, Stadio Comunale di Monigo

Scorers: Ireland U-20: Tries: Andrew Conway 2; Cons: James McKinney, Paddy Jackson; Pens: James McKinney 4

South Africa: Francois Venter 2, Eben Etzebeth, Wandile Mjekevu, Arno Botha; Cons: Johan Goosen 4; Pens: Johan Goosen 2; Drop: Johan Goosen

IRELAND U-20: Tiernan O'Halloran (Galwegians/Connacht); Andrew Conway (Blackrock/Leinster), Brendan Macken (Blackrock/Leinster), JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster), Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster); James McKinney (Queen's University/Ulster), Kieran Marmion (UWIC/Exile); James Tracy (UCD/Leinster), Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Michael Kearney (Clontarf/Leinster), Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers/Connacht), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Aaron Conneely (Galway Corinthians/Connacht), Eoin McKeon (Galwegians/Connacht).

Replacements used: Iain Henderson (Queen's University/Ulster) for Qualter (46 mins), Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster) for Hanrahan (52), David Doyle (UCD/Leinster) for Annett (54), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) for McKinney (57), Conor Carey (Ballymena/Ulster) for Furlong, Peter du Toit (UCD/Leinster) for Marmion (both 70), Dominic Gallagher (Dublin University/Ulster) for Kearney (74).

SOUTH AFRICA U-20: Ulrich Beyers (Blue Bulls); Courtnall Skosan (Blue Bulls), Bradley Moolman (Blue Bulls), Francois Venter (Blue Bulls), Wandile Mjekevu (Golden Lions); Johan Goosen (Free State), Lohan Jacobs (Blue Bulls); Stephan Kotze (Free State), Michael van Vuuren (Free State), John Roy Jenkinson (Leopards), Ruan Venter (Golden Lions), Eben Etzebeth (Western Province), Nizaam Carr (Western Province), Cornell du Preez (Leopards), Arno Botha (Blue Bulls) (capt).

Replacements used: Bongi Mbonambi (Blue Bulls) for van Vuuren, Pieter Rademan (Free State) for Jacobs (both 57 mins), Paul Jordaan (KwaZulu-Natal) for Mjekevu (73), Jean Cook (Free State) for Venter (76), Siyamthanda Kolisi (Western Province) for Carr (79), Nic Schonert (KwaZulu-Natal) for Kotze (80). Not used: John Welthagen (Leopards).

Referee: Jonathan White (New Zealand)