The SA junior men’s water polo team found themselves up against an immense French challenge as they went down 10-4 in a 13-19 playoff match at the FINA World Championships in Croatia today. SA went into the match on a high against France, the eighth-ranked team in the world, after recording their first victory of the tournament against Uzbekistan 24 hours earlier. After a tight first chukka shared 1-all, the SA side were outscored in the remaining quarters by 3-1, 3-1 and 3-1. “There were 21 exclusions in the match and France converted more than us,” said SA team coach Pete Lavett. “We have been creating so many chances, its disappointing when we don’t convert them.” For SA, Devon Card (2), William Naidoo and Oliver Swart got the goals for SA. The South Africans had to play part of the third chukka a man short after Andrew Jones was sent off for misconduct.