2018 New Zealand U20s
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@taniwharugby said in 2018 New Zealand U20s:
did our scrum improve in the 2nd spell, I had to come to work so missed the 2nd half, but our scrum was a bit shit in the 1st half, you'd have to think will struggle even more against typically strong scrummagers in SA/England if we make it past the French.
Only caught the last 30 and most of that I was not really concentrating on it but saw a couple of scrums where we smashed em bro.
And they were generally (not always) solid in the ones I saw.
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@booboo Yeah, I think it's the same as in the Oceania game. Australia dominated the scrum during the first half, beginning 2nd half. Then either tiredness or subs changed the momentum a bit, and NZ got better (not just our scrum). Aussies made a lot of handling errors in the last part of the game as well.
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Full games below. It seems like they are all geo-blocked; I hope this is temporary:
Wales v Japan
Italy v Argentina
Ireland v Georgia
England v Scotland
South Africa v France
New Zealand v Australia (will post the link to TVNZ on Demand when available)
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So Australia don't make the top 4/semis. It's a tough tournament when there are only 3 groups of 4.
In fact this year might be the tightest ever, with Georgia being good only Japan seem out of their depth. Although I see Japan only got pipped by 1 point by Wales today.
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@rapido Yeah, Japan only just got promoted to the main tournament after winning the 2017 U20s Trophy. It looks like they may drop straight back to the Trophy tournament, although also Scotland isn't safe yet. It will be interesting to see how Samoa does in the Trophy after being relegated last year.
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I didn't particularly enjoy the game this morning. A lot of mistakes in the commentary. NZ did not seem to have much flow in their play today, missing too many first-stringers. Flanders was very good though, as was Plummer. Several costly errors by Hockings for Australia. I was mystified by some decisions, including yellow card for Christie, and off the ball play ignored.
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Link to full NZ v AUS match on TVNZ on Demand; https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/world-rugby-u20-championship/episodes/s2018-e5
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Only just noticed this: after the last minute replacement of Bailyn Sullivan by Jamie Spowart, they named Will Tremain on the bench in the 23 jersey. I guess they had run out of backs, with Punivai probably still on his way to France, Tele'a suspended and Faingaanuku injured? Tremain didn't come on the field; Christie's yellow may have had something to do with that.
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@stargazer said in 2018 New Zealand U20s:
@rapido Yeah, Japan only just got promoted to the main tournament after winning the 2017 U20s Trophy. It looks like they may drop straight back to the Trophy tournament, although also Scotland isn't safe yet. It will be interesting to see how Samoa does in the Trophy after being relegated last year.
They put up a very good performance yesterday. Wales were (IMO) favored by the referee at the breakdown which made the difference in the end.
The Japanese best players were their scrum half, Nr.8 and right wing. But they all played with a great heart. Surely they deserved to win this. -
I hope Sullivan is fit for the SF because we lacked any penetration in the midfield without Tele’a. If not, I'd seriously think of putting Koroi at 12 because the more he has the ball in his hands the better.
Plummer's kicking was a mixed bag. Goalkicking was outstanding but his general play kicking was average.
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@bovidae said in 2018 New Zealand U20s:
I hope Sullivan is fit for the SF because we lacked any penetration in the midfield without Tele’a. If not, I'd seriously think of putting Koroi at 12 because the more he has the ball in his hands the better.
Plummer's kicking was a mixed bag. Goalkicking was outstanding but his general play kicking was average.
In oceanic tournament Plummer played 12 so maybe that’s a option and Trask at 10
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I have the same views on it. Plummer's kicking from hand was average to poor, and this helped the Aussies to maintain the pressure on the boys in black.
Fa'ingaanuku is a big loss since he was the main attacking threat of the team. Clarke was good but miles away from last year's performances.
