WR U20 Championship 2025
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@Landers92 said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
Yup, Mathis has played 6 a couple of times for his club in Christchurch. Mixed in with one game at 7 and another game on the wing.
He will be a really useful acquisition for the Crusaders next year.
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@SouthernMann said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
@Landers92 said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
Yup, Mathis has played 6 a couple of times for his club in Christchurch. Mixed in with one game at 7 and another game on the wing.
He will be a really useful acquisition for the Crusaders next year.
Dislike.
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@Bovidae said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
That's a very short loose forward trio, and I don't remember Mathis ever playing 6, only 7 and 8.
Uhm, have you seen the size of Woodley?!
All.rugby is usually pretty reliable so I’m not sure what’s happened there. But yeah, it is a short backrow. If the lineout becomes a disaster, then I guess McLeod will be quick to come off the bench, perhaps for someone like Woodley (who's more 1.80 m rather than 1.97...).
I think Fale has a real opportunity to stake a claim for the number 8-jersey. Bason is a talented player but he’s been too quiet in most games for my liking (he was good against the Junior Boks). The game against Italy was a slog between the two packs yet he wasn’t nearly prominent enough. If Fale performs against Georgia and can deliver a solid 50 minutes, I think there’s a good chance he’ll keep the jersey.
And finally, I like the backline but I hope that the coaching group is clear on who they see as their first-choice first five, whether it’s Simpson or Cole. I don’t think it’s a position where you can afford much rotation, especially with an attack as elaborate as that of the NZ U20s. Simpson kicked well against Italy, together with Cole, and they made sure not to overplay in attack. He’ll need to display similar patience against Georgia, together with Solomon, in what will most likely be challenging conditions once again.
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@Mauss said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
@Bovidae said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
That's a very short loose forward trio, and I don't remember Mathis ever playing 6, only 7 and 8.
Uhm, have you seen the size of Woodley?!
It's on the internet so must be true!
I've seen all three of these loose forwards up close and Mathis would be the tallest, and is probably closer to 1.83 m himself. Speaking of heights, it was funny (in a perverse way) to see Rico Simpson being taller than the locks when they lined up for the national anthems.
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@Bovidae said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
Speaking of heights, it was funny (in a perverse way) to see Rico Simpson being taller than the locks when they lined up for the national anthems.
At least his younger brother had the good sense of becoming a forward.
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@brodean said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
Hopefully he has a bit more weight on him
I’m sure he has, if only just. He’s a lanky player like his brother: tall, skinny and long-limbed. But he’s still very young – he’s the current Sacred Heart number 8 – so I’m sure he’ll put on the weight in due time.
He’s a great player to watch, very involved around the field and a solid athlete to boot. He was great for the Māori U18 against NZ Schools last year, very strong in the lineout and a turnover threat at the breakdown as well. Also a very decent sevens player, which I’d think would be an interesting pathway for him.
Talented rugby family!
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@Frank said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
So which country has the strongest team in this tournament?
I’ve caught up with the other games throughout the week. It’s still too early to say which side is the strongest, as lots of teams have and will rotate their matchday squads, depending on the strength of the opposition. But at the moment, I’d say the favourites (besides the NZ U20s) are some of the more usual suspects: South Africa, England and France.
The Junior Boks were obviously impressive in their demolition of the Junior Wallabies, although the latter’s poor decision-making and bad luck contributed to this. The SA U20s have some big units in the forwards – Hlekani (blindside), Mnebelele (hooker), Romao (blindside) and Grobbelaar (lock) – and genuine speed in the backs (Mentoe, Pead, Jooste, Ndlozi), the latter being especially lethal in transition.
Their upcoming match against England U20s will probably say a lot, though. The English U20s biggest strength looks to me to be their (rush) defence, which appears to be very well-organized. The Junior Boks want to play with more width to their game but I’m not sure whether they can sustain an attacking style against a defence as solid as the England U20s without accumulating errors. I don’t think they’ll rack up the points quite as easily as against the Junior Wallabies (who were guilty of overplaying to their own detriment which I suspect the English U20s won’t do) so their attack will be put to the test. The danger for the SA U20s will be that they’ll go into their shells after conceding turnovers, which would play into the hands of the English pressure game.
If the Junior Boks can consistently break the English defensive line, however, then I think they have a good chance of making a run to the final. The French also look pretty good, with a forward pack that’s skilled in their core roles and typically hardworking backs. But while the French backline was the most lethal and complete by some distance in the previous tournaments, I don’t think the same can be said of this cohort. They don’t quite ooze the class of Bielle-Biarrey, Gailleton, Jauneau, Ferté and Depoortere, with perhaps the sole exception being the Bordelais fullback, Jon Echegaray.
My concern with them would be that I don’t think they know who their best 10 is: they’ve tried Diego Jurd, Jean Cotarmanac’h and Luka Keletaona this year, all with pretty mixed results. The 9, Baptiste Tilloles, does look like a polished player though. Then again, the French U20s are a side with a lot of self-belief after their consistent success at this level since 2018, so they’ll still be a tough side to beat.
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The Welsh U20s are putting on a show against the French, scoring some beautiful tries while playing a smart territorial game. France U20s, on the other hand, are struggling to retain possession, giving up the pill way too easily. Wales U20s will be hoping to avoid a similar scenario as the one against Argentina, where they led 24-7 in the first half only for the Argentines to come back and steal the game.
Harri Wilde (10), Tom Bowen (11), Steffon Emmanuel (12) and Sam Scott (3) have been the standouts for me. Bowen looks to be a very energetic, hardworking attacking player.
Halftime score: Wales U20 21-7 France U20
But if I can complain for just a moment: how long are these games going to take? With the water breaks (understandable) and inefficient TMO checks (less so), 40-minute halves routinely become an hour long or more so. Also, what is up with the lack of forward passes being called? Every game has seen, at least, more than three very obvious forward passes not being called, which is peculiar to say the least.
So I think I’m going to pass on watching these games live from now on. Watching afterwards, you can at least skip through these endless stoppages. (end of complaint)
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Well, it finished 35-21 to France U20s, 28 unanswered points in the second half as the Welsh U20s ran out of gas as well as losing a player to a red card for an illegal clean-out.
An unfortunate turn of events for Wales U20s after what was a fantastic performance in the first half. But also impressive how the French U20s kept calm, did the basics well until the Welsh eventually cracked. Impactful appearance as well from the French reserve 9, Simon Daroque, who put some real pace into the French attack in sweltering conditions.
Fulltime: Wales U20 21-35 France U20
