WR U20 Championship 2025
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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
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@Smuts there foward pack in that last 10 were immense
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@deeezenuts forwards grew into the game and the bench made a huge impact.
The halves and outside backs were pretty bloody special as well.
Not sure what changed since the TRC but they’re showing the spirit of the best Bok sides. Very fun to watch.
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@booboo said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
@Smuts said in WR U20 Championship 2025:
@booboo the least they deserve, unto their sons’ sons to the seventh generation, surely?
You've lost me.
Anyway, I'd say it is a stop start game. But more of a stop stop game.
Kiwi sides have a massive karmic debt of cards and penalties from undetected cynical infringements by these baby blacks’ forebears.
Short of giving back 2 or 3 Webb-Ellises and a fair few super and SANZAAR titles I’m afraid it’s getting many more marginal cards for the next seven or so generations to get out of the karmic red.
Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
