2021 New Zealand U20s

[Stargazer]

Ruben Love has some of that Dmac-like headless chook stuff.

[Stargazer]

Great try from Gallagher. He, Lord, Evans and Fihaki have been the stand-outs for NZ U20s IMO.

[Stargazer]

FT: NZ U20 40 - 5 Ta$man Mako HP XV

[Chris]

@stargazer said in 2021 New Zealand U20s:

Great try from Gallagher. He, Lord, Evans and Fihaki have been the stand-outs for NZ U20s IMO.

I thought Segner was good when he came on as well.

[Tim]

@chris I missed quite a bit of the 2nd half, but saw some nice link play from him.

[Chris]

@tim said in 2021 New Zealand U20s:

@chris I missed quite a bit of the 2nd half, but saw some nice link play from him.

Made 1 good run putting a Mako$ player on his butt.and a couple of turn overs as well.

[Canes4life]

Really liked what I saw from Morgan at 10. Can see why the Canes have snapped him up - looks like a more natural 10 to me than Ruben Love.

@Stargazer i’m sure you would have loved that try scored by Lakai, setup by fellow Wellington players Morgan and Higgins in the second half…

TK Howden looks to have broken his arm which may rule him out of the NPC.

[Bovidae]

The New Zealand Under 20 team has been named to face the Cook Islands national team on Saturday 17 July at Dilworth School in Auckland.
The game marks another step in the development of talented midfielder Gideon Wrampling who will captain the side with lock Zach Gallagher supporting him as vice-captain in the engine room.
 
19-year-old Wrampling made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs this year and will form a formidable midfield with Northland’s Corey Evans.
 
The game is important preparation for the Cook Islands who are set to play the loser of the Manu Samoa v Tonga series in a Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifier the following weekend.
 
The game kicks off at Dilworth School at 12:00pm on Saturday and is open to the public.

The New Zealand Under 20 side is:

1: Joshua Fusitua
2: George Bell
3: Sione Ahio
4: Fabian Holland
5: Zach Gallagher (Vice Captain)
6: TK Howden
7: Anton Segner
8: Vaiolini Ekuasi
9: Cortez Lee Ratima
10: Aidan Morgan
11: Te Paea Cook-Savage
12: Corey Evans
13: Gideon Wrampling (Captain)
14: Michael Manson
15: Harry Godfrey

RESERVES:

16: Harry Press
17: Joe Gavigan
18: Luca Inch
19: Dom Gardiner
20: Jack Sexton
21: Nathan Hastie
22: Manu Paea
23: Riley Higgins
24: Nathaniel Peters
25: Sean Withy
26: Peter Lakai
27: Meihana Grindlay

NOTE: Squad numbers have been enlarged for this fixture and rolling subs will be used throughout the match.

[mikey07]

@canes4life TK Howdens injury mustn’t of been that bad he’s down to start.

[Canes4life]

@mikey07 that's good news. He was holding his arm and looked to be in a fair amount of discomfort when he left the field the other day. Glad it was only minor as I'm looking forward to watching him play for Manawatu this year.

[Stargazer]

I haven't seen an official post with the result of today's game, but according to comments on FB, the NZ U20s beat the Cook Islands 73 to 0.

[Bovidae]

[Stargazer]

I wonder whether they can't find a window to still play the Oceania U20 Championship, at least against Australia? For example, in the November window (after the NPC)?

[Machpants]

@stargazer said in 2021 New Zealand U20s:

I wonder whether they can't find a window to still play the Oceania U20 Championship, at least against Australia? For example, in the November window (after the NPC)?

Cos that'll cost a bomb

[Bovidae]

Yeah, it will come down to the cost for NZR and RA, but it would be good if both teams had a real "test". Play at least 2 games to justify the travel.

[mikey07]

@bovidae Too bad they can’t play curtain raiser to the Bledisloe cup games. I’m sure they’d develop just as much as playing NPC