TRC U20 2026

NZ win 34-29

What an odd game.

9 times out of 10 Aus win that game.

Fun watch though.

Lucky to win that one. Think Australia dominated most of the game and looked more threatening whenever they had the ball. NZ made the most of the period where they had a 2 man advantage and that was the difference in the end.

Australia were clearly the better team, and should have won it easily. Ill discipline cost them the game. They will be kicking themselves for losing to this poor NZ side.

NZ have probably used up all of their luck in this game. So many missed first-up tackles in the 1st half especially.

Now that they've played a game we should expect to see improvement against Arg.

Did Stan show the post-match interviews? If so, I wonder what both captains had to say?

@Bovidae I don't believe so

How did the players rate for NZ?

@Mr-Fish said in TRC U20 2026:

How did the players rate for NZ?

The 3 standout starters I thought were 6 Finn Mcleod, 9 Sinton and 15 Norrie.

Muliaina was outshone by his opposite but he was tidy - good kicking out of his own half and good decision making.

The bench was good and impactful - bench forwards had more presence, Reihana and Williams definitely showed something too.

Makata, the reserve hooker, never came on. Injured?

@KiwiMurph said in TRC U20 2026:

Pahulu rightly hooked. He cannot tackle.

Is this the guy who missed basically every attempt he had?

I only saw the highlights, but the Aussie team just looked like they have 1) more size, 2) better basic skills (e.g., passing in front of the man), and 3) better individual tackling technique (1& 3 go together a bit).

They look better coached too and their 10 was a much more finished product that Muliaina. I think they were very unlucky to lose that with 3 tries disallowed and a RC?

If that's the best we have, yikes.

Pahulu had a shocker but he wasn't alone in missing simple tackles.

I'm not sure why Lewai was subbed to move Guerin into centre. Muliaina's goal kicking wasn't great.

We weren't great but still got the W, and we didn't get tp have a warm up game before this tournament, unlike Australia who had two games. So not surprised we looked disjointed at times.Great confidence boost for our boys as.some will never have experienced beating an Australian team before . Am thinking they may play everyone else in the next game

@Kiwidom said in TRC U20 2026:

Great confidence boost for our boys as.some will never have experienced beating an Australian team before .

LOL
had not considered that
but you are correct

There are a few that have beaten Aust as part of the 2023 NZS team.

@kiwidom I would expect some changes for the Arg game but not mass rotation.

@Bovidae Just did a quick Google and it's only Jake Frost , Micah Fale and Charlie Sinton in the current 20s side, from the 2023 schools team. Possibly Ra Palmer but dunno if he was the 5th prop added to this squad

@Kiwidom said in TRC U20 2026:

Just did a quick Google and it's only Jake Frost , Micah Fale and Charlie Sinton in the current 20s side, from the 2023 schools team.

Yes, and they were reserves.

Bounce of the ball went NZ way but fair play they stuck to the task

Argentina absolutely destroyed

The SA team look like a sevens team. Over the top explosiveness but still lacking in cohesion at this point

Markus Muller is out injured. He and Adams is a once in a lifetime midfield combo..