Jimmy Taylor was pulled from his Dunedin club side over the weekend and has joined the NZ squad as injury cover.
Yes, some players are returning home due to injury:
Unavailable for selection: Haki Wiseman (concussion). Johnny Falloon and Kele Lasaqa have returned to New Zealand due to injury. Now available for selection, Finn McLeod (Crusaders / Canterbury) has joined the squad alongside Jimmy Taylor (Highlanders / Southland) as injury cover.
It means Tocker or McLeod have to cover lock. Not ideal.
Two players in the original squad (Jake Hutchings, Triumph Voice) have yet to play a game.
The scrum looks more solid but the overall play is not that convincing so far.
Italy has made a few line breaks but the final pass has let them down.
@Fale009 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Chris Logan Williams looks to have a decent boot though.
Yeah he seems to have some power in his clearances.
Logan Williams after a couple of early errors has played well.
Norrie apart from his kicking game is very impressive.
@Chris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
Logan Williams after a couple of early errors has played well.
Norrie apart from his kicking game is very impressive.
Yeah, very good running the ball, alot of very poor kicks.
@Fale009 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
Norrie has elite acceleration and agility. Quite similar in size and skillset to Harry Godfrey imo.
He reminds me more of Finn Hurley.
The SFs are determined by PD, and it looks like NZ will be either 3rd or 4th seed.
World Rugby Junior World Championship semi-finals schedule
Championship semi-finals
France U20 vs New Zealand U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Monday, July 13, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
South Africa U20 vs England U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Monday, July 13, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
Fifth-place semi-finals
Argentina U20 vs Scotland U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Sunday, July 12, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Australia U20 vs Wales U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Sunday, July 12, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
Ninth-place semi-finals
Georgia U20 vs Italy U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Monday, July 13, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Ireland U20 vs Fiji U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Monday, July 13, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
13th-place semi-finals
Japan U20 vs USA U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Sunday, July 12, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Spain U20 vs Uruguay U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Sunday, July 12, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
@Steven-Harris His Wiki stats -
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 148 kg (326 lb)
He has already played twice for Bath prems.
An article about him in the Telegraph says he is 23 stone (146kg).
@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Fale009 just watched the highlights the NZ v Italy game not wrong about the Italian no 8 ..6’4 120kgs plus at a guess .? What do you reckon ?
Have never seen a no 8 that big at any level.
@Daffy-Jaffy Good god he’s gonna terrify a few tacklers in his career
@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Fale009 just watched the highlights the NZ v Italy game not wrong about the Italian no 8 ..6’4 120kgs plus at a guess .? What do you reckon ?
Watching him for the first NZ try was hilarious, just jogged from breakdown to breakdown doing absolutely nothing apart from positioning himself on the opposite side of where defence was required and/or leaning on the maul/breakdown with the impact of a fluffy pillow.
Made young Skelton look like Buck Shelford.
@Daffy-Jaffy said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
Those Southern Italians are a bit darker than I remember.
That second try for the BBs shouldn’t have counted. The Italian halfback knocked it on and then played the ball again. I thought play by the same team after an infringement stopped the play?
@ACT-Crusader said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
That second try for the BBs shouldn’t have counted. The Italian halfback knocked it on and then played the ball again. I thought play by the same team after an infringement stopped the play?
No reason why the ref can't keep playing advantage - as long as he hasn't already blown his whistle.
@Fale009 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
This should be a winnable game. This French side doesn't seem to have the same quality of the past couple of years. The Aussies should have beaten them.
Firstly, the on-screen clock stopped midway through the 2nd half while play continued for a few minutes. Even with that added time why the hell were Aust kicking the ball away at the end?
For NZ, we will need to survive their scrum, defend the inevitable lineout drives and match their physicality in the forwards.
@akan004 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Fale009 just watched the highlights the NZ v Italy game not wrong about the Italian no 8 ..6’4 120kgs plus at a guess .? What do you reckon ?
Have never seen a no 8 that big at any level.
Henry Tuilagi would like a word!
Those bloody kiwis at it again.
@stodders said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@akan004 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:
@Fale009 just watched the highlights the NZ v Italy game not wrong about the Italian no 8 ..6’4 120kgs plus at a guess .? What do you reckon ?
Have never seen a no 8 that big at any level.
Henry Tuilagi would like a word!
SU Agen used to field a Nr.8 named Fonua a few years ago. He was well above 150 kg and used as a battering ram.
JUNIOR SPRINGBOKS – 15 Luan Giliomee, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Ethan Adams, 11 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Hendré Schoeman, 8 Gert Kemp, 7 Luke Cannon, 6 Kebotile Maake, 5 JD Hattingh, 4 Heinrich Theron, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele (c), 1 Oliver Reid.
Bench: 16 Liam van Wyk, 17 Rambo Kubheka, 18 Luan van der Berg, 19 Jaythen Orange, 20 Thomas Beling, 21 Risima Khosa, 22 Jayden Brits, 23 Alzeadon Felix.
NZ 20s went down to France this morning 26-22 brilliant French try with about 3 to go
Halftime France 14-12
Credit to the French for what was a superb match winner but the chase from the NZ backs left a lot to be desired
Wasn’t the underlying reason the Baby Blacks lost as the scrum again proved a massive point of weakness also defending mauls
We have no idea
NZ Rugby has to put some resources into tight five development at age group rugby or we are just never going to be successful at this tournament
Often hear at provincial level there is a real shortage of genuine scrummaging props coming through
@Steven-Harris Slow learners. The scrum at this level has been an issue for a number of years. Why hasn't it been addressed?
@Steven-Harris the chase on the kick was poor, 1 player chased hard, then several others 5-10m back, giving them too much room and a poor staggered d line.