U20 Rugby Championship 2025
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Jeez looked like the South African ducked a bit into that one. I would call that mitigation.
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I don't know why I bother watching rugby sometimes. NZ down to 13.
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NZ did well to shut that out for two minutes but that half back nearly fucked it at the end!
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@Mauss that kick to touch at the end from the NZ replacement halfback 🤦🏻♂️..just when you thought you had seen everything 🤷🏻♂️
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@W32 said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
I’m not sure Moyo is the answer for SA at 10. Quite a bit of aimless kicking at critical times.
I tend to agree on Moyo. He has a good boot on him but I can’t immediately recall a great deal of positive outcomes resulting from it. The Junior Boks need a first five who can play flat to the line. The problem is that I don’t really know who that could or should be.
The intensity from the Junior Boks at the outset was great but once the NZ U20s were able to get back into the game, any sort of coherent game plan for the SA U20s was lacking, I felt. In contrast, the calmness and skill execution from the NZ U20s to deal with the early onslaught was something else. Will Cole is rising very quickly in my estimation, the way he was able to draw defenders onto him while releasing others into space was terrific. He has a great feel for the line.
During the second half, the Baby Blacks had no less than six genuine ball players in the backline, players who have experience running a backline in either 15s or 7s: Will Cole, Charlie Sinton, Stanley Solomon, Rico Simpson, Jack Wiseman and Maloni Kunawave. While NZ Rugby have been lagging behind recently in terms of tactical innovation, a backline filled with players who can call and change plays on the fly could be an important next step.
Finally, and remarkably, this was the first win for the NZ U20s against the Junior Boks in 15 years. After winning their semi-final against the SA U20s in 2010, the Baby Blacks lost 6 consecutive games against their perennial foes – 2012, 2013, 2014 (2x), 2018, and 2019 – before drawing last year. Great way to get over that particular hump.
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@Steven-Harris said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
@Mauss that kick to touch at the end from the NZ replacement halfback 🤦🏻♂️..just when you thought you had seen everything 🤷🏻♂️
I'm just going to pretend that never happened. I still have nightmares about that Nepo Laulala chicken wing-offload near his own 22 against the Irish in Wellington.
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@Mauss last night was the first time I have seen Coles play and agree with much of what you wrote about him, but I do have one reservation. He seems to be yet another NZ 10 with a pop gun punt. I felt his lack of distance when clearing contributed to NZ getting stuck around their own 22/10 metre line following receiving a kick off. Where have we seen that problem before?
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@Crazy-Horse said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
Jeez looked like the South African ducked a bit into that one. I would call that mitigation.
A YC I could agree with.
