2019 under 20's
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Is Fakatava too old for this team? Just checked and he was still 18 in March this year so he should be eligible.
Oh wait, I just checked who the coach is.
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Naholo?
Edit: perhaps not elligible.
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Good to see a couple of young Blues zone halfbacks in there (Funaki and Heighton). Also good to see Rivez Reihana listed under Auckland, despite joining the Chiefs dev program.
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@tim said in 2019 under 20's:
Also good to see Rivez Reihana listed under Auckland, despite joining the Chiefs dev program.
A typo I think.
He told me he was signed with Waikato. -
@bovidae Bugger!
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Looking through that group that's going to be a very good u/20 side if its picked correctly out of that group.Some exceptional players amongst that list.
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@bovidae said in 2019 under 20's:
Naholo?
Edit: perhaps not elligible.
Possibly, I also felt he was a wee bit overrated - a lot of the hard work was done inside him (like by Fakatava
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@chris There are a few players from this years NZSS team too.
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@bovidae Some Talent in the NZSS lot as well maybe a tough squad to pick
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@bovidae No Niko Jones.
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@sparky Maybe too early for him? It also doesn't mention his non selection so they probably don't see him in the picture yet.
I'm thinking Flanders will captain the side.
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@canes4life said in 2019 under 20's:
I'm thinking Flanders will captain the side.
There are 2 NZSS captains amongst the 50 players, and others who would have captained their provincial U19 team.
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@bovidae He stands out as the most logical choice.
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@canes4life I suspect Baby Ice will be off to uni next year, playing for a Development team of a Super franchise and a bit NPC.
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I've re-ordered the list to show the player positions:
PROPS
Finlay Brewis (Canterbury) - TH?
Robert Cobb (Auckland) - LH
George Dyer (Waikato) - LH
Fletcher Newell (Canterbury) - TH
Oliver Norris (Waikato) - LH
Josiah Tavita-Metcalfe (Hawkes Bay) - TH
Kaliopasi Uluilakepa (Wellington) - TH
Tamaiti Williams (Canterbury) - LHHOOKERS
Tane Te Aho (Wellington)
Sam Cooper (Waikato)
Kianu Kereru-Symes (Hawkes Bay)
Shilo Klein (Canterbury)LOCKS
Samipeni Finau (Waikato)
Naitoa Ah Kuoi (Wellington)
Iosefa Maloney-Fiaola (Bay of Plenty)
Taine Plumtree (Wellington)
Tupou Vaa'i (Taranaki)LOOSIES
Iona Apineru (Wellington) - blindside
Kaylum Boshier (Taranaki) - no. 8
Samuel Dickson (Otago) - openside
Lesinali Faleafa (Auckland) - no. 8
Devan Flanders (Hawkes Bay) - blindside and no. 8
Cullen Grace (Canterbury) - blindside
Kohan Herbert (Bay of Plenty) - openside
Shamus Hurley-Langton (Wellington) - no. 8?
Michael Loft (Taranaki)
Simon Parker (Waikato) - blindside and no. 8
James Thompson (Waikato) - blindsideHALFBACKS
Leroy Carter (Bay of Plenty)
Luke Donaldson (Canterbury)
Taufa Funaki (Auckland)
Brad McNaughten (North Harbour)FIRST FIVE-EIGHTHS
Fergus Burke (Canterbury)
Chay Fihaki (Auckland) - also 12
Cole Forbes (Bay of Plenty)
Callum Harkin (Wellington)
Jack Heighton (North Harbour)
Lincoln McClutchie (Hawkes Bay)
Rivez Reihana (Auckland)MIDFIELDERS
Lalomilo Lalomilo (Bay of Plenty) - 12
Dallas McLeod (Canterbury) - 12
Isaiah Punivai (Canterbury) - 13
Dennon Robinson-Bartlett (Bay of Plenty)
Danny Toala (Hawkes Bay) - 12, also fullback
Quinn Tupaea (Waikato)OUTSIDE BACKS
Connor Garden-Bachop (Canterbury)
Samuel Gilbert (Canterbury) - fullback (also 1st 5/8?)
Jack Gray (Auckland) - fullback?
Reuben Va'a (Wellington) -
Heighton played 9 for Blues dev, but plays 10 for his club (East Coast Bays).
Rob Cobb plays both sides, but is maybe more of a tighthead?
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@nepia said in 2019 under 20's:
Is Fakatava too old for this team? Just checked and he was still 18 in March this year so he should be eligible.
Oh wait, I just checked who the coach is.
I had a big WTF moment when I saw his naming was missing from the list, especially considering the halfbacks that have been named. Of those four, only Funaki stands out. He turns 19 in December, so Fakatava will still be eligible next year.
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@tim It's possible that some players play in more than one position. I found most positions in U19 line-ups, some in club or school line-ups.
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@stargazer Maybe there is a reason behind his non-selection as he surely would be first choice. I hope this means the Canes have snapped him up, but they also have Flanders on their books and he was selected so who knows.
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@canes4life Yeah, there may be good reasons. I just find it so hard to believe he hasn't been named. I was hoping they'd just forgotten to put him on the list. Wouldn't be the first time.
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@stargazer Donaldson only turned 18 in July so he has another year. I don’t think he’ll make this team but he’s a great talent
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@chchfanatic That's very well possible, but without further explanation, I see no reason why any of those halfbacks would have been picked ahead of Fakatava, who played very well during his first year of Mitre 10 Cup as Brad Weber's back-up.
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@bovidae said in 2019 under 20's:
Naholo?
Edit: perhaps not elligible.
Don't know about his eligibility, but Kini has been injured for most of the Mitre 10 Cup season, so maybe not back to fitness yet.
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Not sure on squad, you need a cple of players who are starting super rugby or dominating ITM cup to win championship,
The front Row will be better with those returning players plus HB hooker. We are very poor at lock I think looking at those players. Flanders will be good next year but is not a game breaker like Iaone was in 2015 ( although I believe he is next Kieren Read long term)
Tupaea, Faainganuku, proctor, Mclutcjir Nanai shld be very strong next year. Also surprised with Fakatava, i know Naholo is not eligible like Reece wasn't before him. -
@98blueandgold Can you explain what the rule is that makes Naholo ineligible? Residency rule? When does that start to run? He has at least 2 years of 1st XV and one year of club rugby/Mitre 10 Cup under his belt, so he'll be in NZ for almost 3 years (at least).
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Jordan Joseph will be eligible for France again. He is only 18 so they must be favourites for the championship.
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@stargazer unlike nz schools u20 is an international comp so you must abide by irb rules I believe which means resident or 5 years of living (maybe wrong). NZ schools is not a irb sanctioned event so rules can be decided by union. It has changed over time, previously you to be a resident which is why Waisake Cldnt play but when went from 21s/19s to 20s all rules changed. Now schools anyone can play ie Sagner from Germany this year for schools but Sevu Reece who played schools Cld not play sevens or 20s for NZ. Make sense?
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@sparky he was very good but they lost a lot of the others in squad.
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@chchfanatic said in 2019 under 20's:
@stargazer Donaldson only turned 18 in July so he has another year. I don’t think he’ll make this team but he’s a great talent
Is he related to the AB scrum half of the late seventies / early eighties ?
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@stargazer said in 2019 under 20's:
@98blueandgold Can you explain what the rule is that makes Naholo ineligible? Residency rule? When does that start to run? He has at least 2 years of 1st XV and one year of club rugby/Mitre 10 Cup under his belt, so he'll be in NZ for almost 3 years (at least).
His time at school, on a scholarship, doesn't count towards residency as it is not his family home. So Kini would be 1 year into his residency qualification.
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@stargazer said in 2019 under 20's:
I've re-ordered the list to show the player positions:
George Dyer (Waikato) - TH
Simon Parker (Waikato) - blindside/no.8
James Thompson (Waikato) - lock -
@98blueandgold said in 2019 under 20's:
@stargazer unlike nz schools u20 is an international comp so you must abide by irb rules I believe which means resident or 5 years of living (maybe wrong). NZ schools is not a irb sanctioned event so rules can be decided by union. It has changed over time, previously you to be a resident which is why Waisake Cldnt play but when went from 21s/19s to 20s all rules changed. Now schools anyone can play ie Sagner from Germany this year for schools but Sevu Reece who played schools Cld not play sevens or 20s for NZ. Make sense?
Waisake was actually adopted by his uncle when he moved to nz, as opposed to a scholarship. Hence why I assume he could play nz u20s back in 2011, where as someone like Sivivatu ( almost a decade earlier) didn't play age grade IIRC.
But as you say, also, rules and applications of them at age level, do keep changing over the years. I'm not sure when they actually started enforcing the family home part of of minor's residency.
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@bovidae Cheers, I found the positions I mentioned in team lists, so I guess they can play in more than one position.
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@rapido I can't even find a WR regulation that says that there is a eligibility rule for U20s.
The residency rule in World Rugby Regulation 8 only applies to a country's "senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team, the next senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team and the senior National Representative Sevens Team". It also doesn't mention that that the residency period only starts to run once a player leaves school. -
@stargazer @Nepia Is Fakatava the age-group Akira? He was a notable omission from the NZSS team as well.
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@stargazer it is very unclear, like how you can play for Samoa one year and NZ the next at 20s year but need to be resident???
I do know they have played around with it a lot over the last 10 years. Even in NZ school boy rugby it changes almost yearly so who knows. -
@bovidae Fakatava wasn't in the NZSS team due to injury.
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@rapido Cld be the case but I have a suspicion the rules were different and changed just after that for 20s and NZSS. I know Waisake was adopted but the way irb/nzrfu do paper work around adoptions has changed lately, possible due to increase in use of this
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as way of eligibility?
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So maybe Fakatava's omission was due to him being in the Highlanders?
