New Zealand under 20

bobily

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="SammyC" data-cid="578521" data-time="1462850710">
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Cruden has always had speed, Bleyendaal did not have that top end speed.
 
Also, Cruden has always been an extremely hard worker. I know that Bleyendaal was warned more than once by Crusaders management about his attitude.
 
I also know how hard it was to get him to play for his club at all, contrast that with Cody Taylor who plays at the same club and has to be told he's not allowed to play.
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Perhaps he did lack speed, but you can still have slow first-fives playing well at SupeRugby level.
 
I don't know much about him not wanting to play club rugby, all I know is that I had a chat with someone who worked closely with him who made reference to confidence issues being the reason he didn't kick on. It doesn't mean that other factors didn't play a part, though. Either way, he didnt reach his potential as he didn't play anywhere near as well as he did at U20 level. Which was the point of using him as an example. Perofeta may or may not have similar issues when making the step up, so we will have to see how he goes.

Winger

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Canes4life" data-cid="578483" data-time="1462841987">
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Id say the top team from the squad selected would look something like this:
 
1. Ayden Johnstone (Waikato)
2. Leni Apisai (Wellington)
3. Alex Fidow (Wellington)
4. Hamish Dalzell (Canterbury)
5. Isaia Walker-Leawere (Wellington)
6. Luke Jacobson (Waikato)
7. Mitchel Jacobson (Waikato)
8. Marino Mikaele Tu'u (Hawkes Bay)
9. Sam Nock (Northland)
10. TJ Va'a (Wellington)
11. Jonah Lowe (Hawkes Bay)
12. Scott Barrett (Canterbury)
13. Sio Tomkinson (Otago)
14. Shaun Stevenson (Waikato)
15. Jordan Trainor (Waikato)
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.
Whats the strengths and weaknesses of TJ Va'a

Canes4life

From what ive seen of him playing college rugby he has a very good passing game and he is excellent when he has a go at the line. 
Negatives would be that he doesnt have the biggest boot and his defense still needs to be proven at a higher level. 
Physically he is probably a similar size to Cruden and id say the way he plays is similar to Cruden in that he is cool, calm and collected.

Ruthless

...Interesting u20s article <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651'>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651</a>

Brian9848

Surprised Leger was included. He did not impress at all in the 2nd game against Aus. Also thought the wings were very poor in their basic kick chase.

Unco

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Ruthless1" data-cid="578550" data-time="1462860885">
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...Interesting u20s article 'n' travelling gang cried
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651'>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651</a>
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Completely forgot Jarrod Hoeata somehow managed to get capped. Hopefully his little bro has a fair few more brain cells.

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Ruthless1" data-cid="578550" data-time="1462860885">
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...Interesting u20s article 'n' travelling gang cried
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651'>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11636651</a>
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They seem to have missed another family connection: Jonah Lowe is the younger brother of former Maori All Black and Hurricane Karl Lowe.

Wurzel

Wasn't Karl Lowe an All Black?
 
Oh that's right. It was just Magpies fan assuring us he ought to be.

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Wurzel" data-cid="578775" data-time="1462944950">
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Wasn't Karl Lowe an All Black?
 
Oh that's right. It was just Magpies fan assuring us he ought to be.
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??

Bovidae

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Brian9848" data-cid="578655" data-time="1462906090">
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Surprised Leger was included. He did not impress at all in the 2nd game against Aus.
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I didn't see the game but I'm surprised Leger is listed as a midfielder in the squad. I saw him play a lot for HBHS and he usually played 1st 5. As someone else said earlier, they've picked a lot of utility players.

cgrant

Alex Fidow should convert to hooker as did Liam Coltman at the same age. He has too many issues with his scrummaging which could be inacceptable at a higher level.

Canes4life

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bovidae" data-cid="578821" data-time="1462953147">
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I didn't see the game but I'm surprised Leger is listed as a midfielder in the squad. I saw him play a lot for HBHS and he usually played 1st 5. As someone else said earlier, they've picked a lot of utility players.
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Surely Umaga Jensen is more worthy than Leger if he is picked as a Centre. Crazy selection.
 
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="cgrant" data-cid="578839" data-time="1462961104">
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Alex Fidow should convert to hooker as did Liam Coltman at the same age. He has too many issues with his scrummaging which could be inacceptable at a higher level.
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He is way too big for hooker. At college he weighed around 140kg.

bobily

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Canes4life" data-cid="578844" data-time="1462962797">
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Surely Umaga Jensen is more worthy than Leger if he is picked as a Centre. Crazy selection.
 
 
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Yep, given what someone has said before about Robertson (telling a player he needed to quit uni if he wanted to be selected, if I recall correctly), it wouldn't surprise me if he picked almost solely on versatility rather than ability or form.

Immenso Rapido

Do they still have the policy of favouring the older player in u20 selections? 
These guys you guys are agonising over may have a chance next year? 
Although one of the Jacobsen's is at his 3rd JWC ... ??

bobily

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Immenso Rapido" data-cid="578898" data-time="1463007064">
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Do they still have the policy of favouring the older player in u20 selections? 
These guys you guys are agonising over may have a chance next year? 
Although one of the Jacobsen's is at his 3rd JWC ... ??
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Nah, they got rid of that policy a few years ago for both NZ Schools and the U20 team.
 
And Umaga-Jenson will have a chance next year, but Emerson won't. The problem isn't to do with them not getting a chance, just that someone who didn't play that well made it ahead of them.
 
And yep, this is his 3rd year.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.worldrugby.org/u20/teams/2746'>http://www.worldrugby.org/u20/teams/2746</a>
 
Quite a few of the squad have 1997 birth years so are around next year, too :)
 
Possible team for next year, so far:
 
1.Pouri Rakete-Stones?
2.Asafo Aumua
3.Alex Fidow
4.Isaia Walker-Leaware
5.?
6.Luke Jacobson
7.Dalton Papalii
8.Marino Mikaele Tuu
9.Ere Enari
10.Stephen Perofeta/Orbyn Leger
11.
12.Jordie Barrett
13.Rieko Ioane
14.
15.Peter Umaga-Jenson

Immenso Rapido

Read a stuff article which stated that Dalton Papalii is the only Auckland player in the squad. And it was dated before it was trimmed down to the final JWC squad. 
Hope that's just a blip, or that it included other Auckland products now signed for other provinces. Because we need more from Auckland than that.

Provincial Stalwart

No we don't. We just need the best players regardless of where they come from.

Stargazer

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Provincial Stalwart" data-cid="582356" data-time="1464134887">
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No we don't. We just need the best players regardless of where they come from.
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My thoughts exactly!
But it is a worry that it seems like Auckland - our biggest region with the largest player pool - can't produce more players that are good enough to be selected for the U20s.

bobily

If it makes you feel a little better, Rieko Ioane is from Auckland, but is unavailable.
 
The traditional Hurricanes regions seem to be doing quite well in terms of representation (and that even excludes Barrett, who played his 1st XV rugby in Taranaki, but is now with Canterbury).

KiwiMurph

I think there were 5 players in total that played their Secondary School Rugby in Auckland but some of those were contracted elsewhere (e.g. Trainor, Stevenson, Nock etc).
 
Also - there were quite a few Auckland players in last year's U20 side (Ioane, Gibson, Karpik, T Faiane, Tevia Li if we're counting Harbour, Tuungafasi's brother etc) and last year's secondary schools team that will be eligible for next year's U20s (W Faiane, Vaega etc) plus Rieko Ioane will be eligible though i'm not sure he'll play in next year's tournament.

The Silver Fern

New Zealand under 20