South Africa took part in the inaugural edition of the competition in 2008 held in Wales, where they were drawn in Pool B.

They again lost to England in the semi-finals (losing 21–40),[9] but again bounced back by winning the third-place play-off match, this time beating Australia 32–5.

[15] Victories in South Africa's first two matches at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship held in Italy – beating Scotland 33–0[16] and Ireland 42–26[17] – were followed by a defeat at the hands of England, losing 20–26[18] to finish second in the pool and failing to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time.

[41] South Africa came from behind to beat Japan 59–19 in their opening match in Pool C of the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship held in Manchester.

They faced hosts and three-time champions England in the semi-finals, who proved too strong for the visitors, knocking them out of the competition with a 39–17 victory.

Argentina won again, with a very convincing 49–19 scoreline,[46] condemning South Africa to fourth place in the competition.

The following players were named in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship:[47] (c) denotes the team captain.

The following players played at previous editions of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship: (c) denotes team captain.