WR U20 Championship 2025

[Number 10]

Updated squad list:

Hookers
Shaun Kempton, Highlanders/Southland
Manumaua Letiu, Crusaders/Canterbury
Eli Oudenryn, Crusaders/ Ta$man

Props
Robson Faleafā, Blues/Auckland
Dane Johnston, Chiefs/Taranaki
Sika Pole, Blues/Auckland
Israel Time, Hurricanes/Wellington (replacing Tamiano Ahloo)
Logan Wallace, Hurricanes/Manawatu

Locks
Jayden Sa, Chiefs/Taranaki
Josh Tengblad, Highlanders/Otago
Aisake Vakasiuola, Chiefs/Bay of Plenty

Loose Forwards
Mosese Bason, Hurricanes/Manawatū
Micah Fale, Chiefs/Waikato
Oli Mathis, Chiefs/Waikato
Xavier Treacy, Crusaders/Canterbury
Caleb Woodley, Blues/Auckland
Finn McLeod, Crusaders/Canterbury

Halfbacks
Ollie Burra, Crusaders, Canterbury (replacing Charlie Sinton)
Dylan Pledger, Highlanders/Otago
Jai Tamati, Hurricanes/Manawatū

First five-eighth
Will Cole, Hurricanes/Hawke’s Bay
Rico Simpson, Blues/Auckland

Midfield
James Cameron, Crusaders/Canterbury
Tayne Harvey, Highlanders/Southland
Cooper Roberts, Crusaders/ Ta$man
Jack Wiseman, Chiefs/Taranaki

Outside Backs
Maloni Kunawave, Crusaders/ Ta$man
Harlyn Saunoa, Blues/Auckland
Stanley Solomon, Hurricanes/Wellington
Frank Vaenuku, Chiefs/Bay of Plenty

Co Head-Coaches
Jarrad Hoeata and Alex Robertson

Scrum Coach:
Craig Dunlea

Defence Coach:
Dave Dillon

New Zealand Under 20s match schedule:

Monday 30 June, 6:30am NZT
New Zealand v Italy – Stadio San Michele, Calvisano

Saturday 5 July, 4:00am NZT
New Zealand v Georgia – Stadia Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

Thursday 10 July, 4:00am NZT
New Zealand v Ireland – Stadio San Michele, Calvisano

TBC
Playoff matches

[Bovidae]

No Randall Baker as reported?

[hikastags]

That's a shame about Sinton. He was good.

[Bovidae]

Sinton must have got injured in Italy. He is in the photo I posted. Palmer might have picked up an unfortunate injury as he is missing from club rugby in the last 2 weeks.

[Bovidae]

[Kiwidom]

Interesting Rico Simpson at full back

[brodean]

Simpson was there in that last match against SA for the second half. It worked well.

[Bovidae]

Yeah, they tended to end games with that 10-15 combo. I don't think this is the strongest lock and loose forward selection, which suggests rotation.

[tomk]

This post is deleted!

[Mamuka]

Where is Eli and Maloni? Mathis?

[DaGrubster]

@booboo said in WR U20 Championship 2025:

Any word on the real reasons for Haig going?

It was him that headbutted Razor

[Bovidae]

@Mamuka said in WR U20 Championship 2025:

Where is Eli and Maloni? Mathis?

Vaenuku would be the no.1 winger so they've moved Solomon to accommodate Simpson at fullback. I expect all players will get a game in the pool matches. The Italians look to have some giant forwards. Let's see how Wallace's return helps the scrum.

[Bovidae]

I had a brief chat to Raharuhi Palmer at a club game today. As I suspected he is injured, a pect injury which means he is out of action for 3 months.

[Mamuka]

@Bovidae I think ball carrying and crossing the advantage line will not be a problem against the Italians, but scrummaging is questionable

[Mauss]

Junior Wallabies are getting smacked by the Junior Boks in Italy. Some poor kicking by Sharples, Fowler and Harvey has given the Junior Bok back 3 plenty of opportunities to attack in open space. Couple that with Junior Wallaby handling errors and a malfunctioning set-piece, and you’re looking at a hard road back for them in the 2nd half.

As far as the Junior Boks are concerned, players like Haashim Pead and Gilermo Mentoe look a whole lot better with space and a hard pitch to run around on. Still a bit concerned that some of those Saffa fatties are going to run out of gas sooner rather than later. Still looking good so far, though.

Halftime score Junior Wallabies 5-33 Junior Boks.

[OomPB]

59-5 after 56

[Mauss]

Well, it didn't improve much in the second half, as it finished 73-17 in favour of the Junior Boks.

While things genuinely didn't go their way, the Junior Wallabies made some poor errors in their planning as well, seemingly not having (or executing) a proper kicking strategy while being way too loose in their attacking structures. The (counter-)attacking prowess of the Junior Boks shouldn't have come as a surprise to them, though, as the game against the NZ U20s already showed that they're a side with a lot of attacking potential.

The Junior Boks looked good, Pead and the back three looking very dangerous on counter-attack. It'll be interesting to see how they fare against the England U20s.

[Mauss]

Interestingly, on the pre-match lineup image the NZ U20s coach was mentioned to be 'Chris Boyd', although the commentator referred to Hoeata and Robertson as the side's co-coaches.

Anyone heard anything more about this?

[cgrant]

Stupid from Solomon. Could have been a straight red.

[Mauss]

Well, Simpson's definitely not used to playing fullback. His positioning is all over the place. Smart from Italy to put as much pressure on him as possible.