U20 Rugby Championship 2025
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Having watched the SA game again I’m not feeling that optimistic about the next match. Sure there was a lot of enthusiasm and emotion, but there are big problems with all departments. The handling errors are particularly worrying. I don’t see this team beating Aus or NZ. They are just too static in the way they play.
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@W32 said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
Having watched the SA game again I’m not feeling that optimistic about the next match. Sure there was a lot of enthusiasm and emotion, but there are big problems with all departments. The handling errors are particularly worrying. I don’t see this team beating Aus or NZ. They are just too static in the way they play.
I think the handling errors are to be expected, it comes with the territory of playing a more expansive game. It's something they'll have to get through if they want to become more comfortable playing that way.
For me, the Junior Boks are definite favourites for this tournament. There should be some changes to the team - I'd probably start Moyo and put Malgas on the bench, Kyle Smith out of the 23, start Hlekani, probably play Mars on the wing ahead of Cupido, and maybe start Juandré and JD Erasmus - but they have lots of pace and power, which I think will get them across the line against both Australia and NZ.
I think NZ will improve for the U20 World Cup but they'll need some serious reinforcements coming in.
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@Mauss said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
@W32 said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
Having watched the SA game again I’m not feeling that optimistic about the next match. Sure there was a lot of enthusiasm and emotion, but there are big problems with all departments. The handling errors are particularly worrying. I don’t see this team beating Aus or NZ. They are just too static in the way they play.
I think the handling errors are to be expected, it comes with the territory of playing a more expansive game. It's something they'll have to get through if they want to become more comfortable playing that way.
For me, the Junior Boks are definite favourites for this tournament. There should be some changes to the team - I'd probably start Moyo and put Malgas on the bench, Kyle Smith out of the 23, start Hlekani, probably play Mars on the wing ahead of Cupido, and maybe start Juandré and JD Erasmus - but they have lots of pace and power, which I think will get them across the line against both Australia and NZ.
I think NZ will improve for the U20 World Cup but they'll need some serious reinforcements coming in.
I do think the coach was trying to do the “bomb squad” thing. He very nearly came unstuck as the SA players started to go into their shells for a period. Certainly they will have grown in confidence from winning, but they seem fragile. I guess that is an age thing.
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@MJonesfan said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
Now, it's pretty apparent from watching NZ vs. Oz games at U18 and U20 Levels over the past couple of years that Oz have now moved forward in terms of their player development.
This is a bit of a long reply but I happened to have to some thoughts on this as well, so I figured I might as well post them.
For me, I’d be hesitant to equate props’ performances at U20 level to something like player development and a potential indicator of future success. If you look at some of the current AB hopefuls at loosehead and tighthead in Super Rugby – George Dyer, Tevita Mafileo, Ollie Norris, Xavier Numia – all of them were incredibly raw at U20 level. Their most important development was in the years immediately after this, putting on a professional weight and gaining steady experience in the NPC and Super.
And, interestingly enough, these years of growth after the U20s is exactly where the issue lies with Australian development. I remember someone like Shambeckler Vui absolutely dominating at U20 level, both in the scrum and the loose. He was quickly signed by the Western Force and already played multiple games of Super Rugby as a nineteen year old in 2017. But he was never able to properly develop in the years afterwards and already played his last minutes of Super Rugby – 10 minutes total for the Waratahs against in the 2018 season, in a game against the Highlanders – at 21-years old. Jack Barrett and Massimo de Lutiis, two standouts of the previous two AU U20 campaigns, will be wary of suffering the same fate. Barrett himself was already hooked rather unceremoniously in a 2024 Tahs game against the Rebels, after being put through the wringer by SR veteran, Sam Talakai. The success of the Australian props at U20 level can, in other words, be a curse rather than a blessing, as they are exposed too soon to a level they’re not yet ready for and then quickly tossed aside when they (inevitably) don't perform.
A similar thing can be argued for other countries as well. Throughout the 2010s, the English U20 scrum was the most dominant set-piece at age grade level, and formed the basis of their excellent run of results in that period. Props like Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Will Collier, Alec Hepburn, Scott Wilson, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, Lewis Boyce, Will Stuart, Ehren Painter and Joe Heyes were all part of a dominant scrum at U20 level. Most of these players became very decent Premiership players but very few of them broke through at Test-level. And if they did, like Vunipola, it was for their ability in the loose rather than his excellence at set-piece, which never really translated to Test-level. England are still searching for a decent tighthead, despite having consistently dominant scrums at age grade level. The current hopes are Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Afolabi Fasogbon and Billy Sela. But again, they’re put under a lot of pressure during crucial years of development, with several people already calling for Opoku-Fordjour’s inclusion in the British and Irish Lions (undeservedly so, I might add, as he can still struggle against experienced veterans, such as Ali Vermaak in the Sale vs. Stormers game in the Champions Cup).
Finally, I’ll agree with the sentiment that I would prefer to see earlier development of props in New Zealand. At the moment, the only way an NZ U20 scrum in the recent past has maintained parity is by using massive bodies (Tamaiti Williams) or by having a tighthead unicorn (F. Newell). There’s no immediate reason clear to me why the efforts in both coaching and conditioning can’t be ramped up. Watching a player like Liam Van der Heyden, the Hamilton Boys’ tighthead, scrum at the Sanix tournament, it’s clear how much he would benefit from a prolonged focus on technique and scrum fitness. Professionalism in rugby is quickening the required age of development. And while I think NZR is right by emphasizing the years of 21 and 22 as years of physical development, technical development (including scrum-specific forms of aerobic fitness) is something which could and should be conveyed earlier. It would, at the very least, bring more stability to the set-piece at U20-level, which, undoubtedly, would bring along a considerable improvement in results as well.
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Watching our Wilde Klawer schools tournament this week. Some excellent fatties and not only from the Winelands factory. Outstanding was the blond surfer lh from Stilbaai playing for Oakdale and TH from Garsfontein called Proppie. Our schoolboy rule for a few meters pushing is a bad one. Also the red card allowing 7 men scrum on both side really bad ones.
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Chris Whitaker has made 8 changes to the starting XV so he's going down the rotation route as well.
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Junior Springboks rotate team for Australia clash
Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has made several rotational changes to his starting line-up and included four players who played for the SA U20s last year for their second Rugby Championship Under-20 match against Australia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
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NZ are looking much better when they retain possession and play with tempo. That said, this Arg team is much weaker than the team from the first game. Poor discipline from Arg and getting penalised out of the game.
On the negative side, Arg have scored both times they have been in the NZ's 22.
HT: NZ 47-14
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@W32 said in U20 Rugby Championship 2025:
SA playing really dumb rugby
Still just way too conservative, in my view. Neither Moyo nor Smith have shown much at 10 during these two games. I liked Malgas at first five in the games against Georgia. At least he offers something different.
I felt that was a really disappojnting performance from the Junior Boks, especially since I had high hopes they would play with a bit more variation under the guidance of Foote and Ackermann. Maybe this jolts them into buying into the game plan.
Great performance again by the Junior Wallabies, though. They are finishing these games very strongly. Great loose forward corps: Langi, Cleverley, Morrisson, Brial, Robinson. I was really impressed with Cleverley in this game, unfortunate that he had to leave early.
Australia U20s confirm side for second U20s Rugby Championship game against South Africa
