WR U20 Championship 2026

To be honest, thought Team did very well considering what I thought was a pretty average playing group vs. teams from last couple of years and thought what was great was that they improved over the tournament.

However if you can't scrum, execute basic skills under pressure and maul - it's going to be hard to progess.

Really these continued losses are the result of the NZRFU not picking required resources into both Schoolboys and U20 Level - this year U20 Super touranment was canned and instead they had an internal camp and then played games internally - hopeless really.

Must say the tournament thus far - these new maul rules are going to kill the game - every game seems to be decided by teams just mauling for tries and not sure if that is healthy for the game. Reality is now, if you get lineout 5 metres from the tryline, just about a guaranteed try.

The other thing I would say is that the coaches have to be commended for being proactive and going with a 6:2 bench in most games. Tocker on the wing would have been interesting to watch.

South Africa struggled through the 1st half until England nr 7 lost the plot. They will have to be much smarter against France in the final. The backline have enough striking power if they get enough possession.

@grant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Must say the tournament thus far - these new maul rules are going to kill the game - every game seems to be decided by teams just mauling for tries and not sure if that is healthy for the game. Reality is now, if you get lineout 5 metres from the tryline, just about a guaranteed try.

U20s catching up on BrumbieBall.

England player sees red in today’s match

@grant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Reality is now, if you get lineout 5 metres from the tryline, just about a guaranteed try.

yep
the best way to stop the 5 metre lineout-maul try now is before it even starts
compete at the actual line-out, try for possession, or at the very least mess up the other teams maul set-up
hate it when defending teams dont compete at the lineout in that situation

@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Ok I get that but when it gets to pointy ends at big tournaments your scrum and lineout maul defence is everything

i get it too
but if you want to play that high tempo game you still have to have a competitive set piece
to easy for the other team to prevent you playing that way if you dont
if the other team are dominant at set piece, they are the ones who will decide how the game is to be played

and your set piece does not have to be dominant
just good enough to secure your own put ins, throw wins, and jam a 5 metre maul
achieve that, and it's game on
otherwise you may as well phone in the forfeit when you are at the pointy end

@mohikamo said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

the best way to stop the 5 metre lineout-maul try now is before it even starts
compete at the actual line-out, try for possession, or at the very least mess up the other teams maul set-up
hate it when defending teams dont compete at the lineout in that situation

Agree 100%, especially now when the hooker needs to throw straight if you compete. Stop the lineout at the source.

@W32 said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

England player sees red in today’s match

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Thanks for posting.

What an idiot. Reminiscent of the Eyetie.

Think NZ U20's are going to have their hands full vs England - who until they lost their 7 to a RC, were I thought physically dominating the Boks - they have some massive units in their pack.

Some of the Kiwi players look physically underdeveloped vs some of the units in the European teams - see how clealy the likes of the Top 14/English Premiership sides develop their players skill-wise(in the pack) and physically.

Will they roll out their strongest team again or give some players who haven't played much a game . There's two or three players who haven't featured at all so far

@Kiwidom said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Will they roll out their strongest team again or give some players who haven't played much a game . There's two or three players who haven't featured at all so far

Would love to see Hughan be given a fair run, haven't been impressed by Sinton personally.

@WoodysRFC Doesn't seem to have much of a running game

Junior Springboks: 15 Alzeadon Felix, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Ethan Adams, 11 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Hendré Schoeman, 8 Wasi Vyambwera, 7 Luke Cannon, 6 Risima Khosa, 5 JD Hattingh, 4 Heinrich Theron, 3 Danie Kruger, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele (captain), 1 Oliver Reid.
Replacements: 16 Liam van Wyk, 17 Rambo Kubheka, 18 Luan van der Berg, 19 Jaythen Orange, 20 Thomas Beling, 21 Gert Kemp, 22 Jayden Brits, 23 Samuel Badenhorst.

Date: Saturday, July 18
Venue: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi
Kick-off: 18.30 (16.30 GMT)
Referee: Reuben Keane (Australia)
Assistant referees: George Selwood (England), Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina)
TMO: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)

Giliomee suspended and will miss the final. Big loss.

@OomPB said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Giliomee suspended and will miss the final. Big loss.

No, not suspended:

@W32 Hope he can play in the final.

@Kiwidom said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Will they roll out their strongest team again or give some players who haven't played much a game . There's two or three players who haven't featured at all so far

That looks to be what is happening, to some degree. The official website has Hughan and Hewitt starting, Norrie at 1st 5, and the forgotten Jake Hutchings in the reserves.

Unavailable for selection: Mika Muliaina (quadricep strain), David Lewai (illness)

Is Triumph Voice in the squad?

@ARHS He is but hasn't featured at all..if he was injured you would think they would have called up a replacement by now

@ARHS said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Is Triumph Voice in the squad?

He was also selected for the NZ Schools but didn't play because of injury. Quite the career so far.

@Bovidae said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

@ARHS said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Is Triumph Voice in the squad?

He was also selected for the NZ Schools but didn't play because of injury. Quite the career so far.

Which is why I asked. Odd? Jinxed?

Great win for the u20s
Cohen Norrie the new Damien Mckenzie with that footwork
Finn McLeod pick of the forwards

Baby Boks retaining the JWC title. Lots of u19s in this team. Next year will be even better

How good is Ahmed?

Can’t see this tournament lasting much longer it must be costing world rugby a fortune and in most cases like the world 7s circuit it’s played in front of very poor crowds
Would rather money was put back into developing the pacific island region
Tonga and Samoa who have been past quarter finalists have fallen by the wayside
Throw in Canada as well

Five tries amongst the three locks. That may be a first in a while.

A decent end for NZ but they got lucky with that disallowed England try due to obstruction. In saying that NZ were held up over the goal line a couple of times.

I think I could see Triumph Voice when the players were shaking hands post-match. Maybe we'll find out why he never played in time.

@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Would rather money was put back into developing the pacific island region

sadly, there is absolutely no commercial return for investing in the PI region
i'd say the expansion to 16 teams would have been an effort to try and get their like involved

the PIs are shooting themselves in the foot with their administrative disarray
money is already available to them, but it wont be handed over until they stop fighting & scrapping amongst themselves

the 7s circuit has been cut back, but it wont go while it is still an olympic sport
the olympics are a mega opportunity to promote the game
quite a few nations (look at the Aussies) put a lot of resources into 7s for that reason

Finn McLeod and hooker Josh Findlay had great aggressive games in the forward pack.v England

Most of the SA players will play against the All Blacks for their franchises.

@Chris Findlay was fantastic. Hes eligible again next year too. I read/ heard somewhere that he was the only hooker at the tournament with 100 % throwing success as well

Great result for the Baby Blacks - some of these Nth Hemisphere teams have some absolute units in their teams - 140Kg plus!

Think that by coming 3rd they have done really well and if not for the implosion vs French in final minutes of game, would have been in the final - which when I look at the talent in this team is a great result, as if I look over this team vs. last two years teams - think this is the weakest.

I'd like to see a few members of this team play in NPC. Frost and Fale have the required physique for that. I rate Finn McLeod a lot. He has all the attributes to become the future AB Nr.6 after the RWC. Findlay has a bright future too, so has Connie. I don't see many others FAB though.

@cgrant Future looks really bright for AB pack - say at the 2031 RWC - when you consider feeding through the likes of in the loose forwards -

Johnny Lee/Oli Mathis @ 7

Malachi Wrampling/Micah Fale @ 8

Bradley Tocker/Finn McLeod @ 6

Then throw in the likes of Eli Oudenryn, Josh Tengblad, Siale Lauaki, Lucas Casey etc - start to see a future WC pack.

Then in the backs @ 10 you have Rico Simpson, Will Cole, Mika Muliaina (still only 19) feeding through - though might have seen the next WC 10 playing First 15 Rugby yesterday in Fletcher Cooper. Commentators were talking about him in the same terms as Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie - think Y12 and he looks serious quality and he just stood out - though have to say first time I watched XV 15 game in awhile, size of some of the players!

@grant Yeah, it's looking good.

A few more to add to the list - Jayden and Fiti Sa, Barnes, Cameron Christie, Che Clark, Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa.

@cgrant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

I'd like to see a few members of this team play in NPC. Frost and Fale have the required physique for that.

Frost was named in the Ta$man squad. Canterbury have often given them players in the past (e.g., Anderson, Lee).

There are more current NZ U20 players in NPC squads than I can remember in previous years.

@cgrant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

I'd like to see a few members of this team play in NPC. Frost and Fale have the required physique for that. I rate Finn McLeod a lot. He has all the attributes to become the future AB Nr.6 after the RWC. Findlay has a bright future too, so has Connie. I don't see many others FAB though.

Finn McLeod has a Canterbury NPC Contact

@grant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

@cgrant Future looks really bright for AB pack - say at the 2031 RWC - when you consider feeding through the likes of in the loose forwards -

Johnny Lee/Oli Mathis @ 7

Malachi Wrampling/Micah Fale @ 8

Bradley Tocker/Finn McLeod @ 6

Then throw in the likes of Eli Oudenryn, Josh Tengblad, Siale Lauaki, Lucas Casey etc - start to see a future WC pack.

Then in the backs @ 10 you have Rico Simpson, Will Cole, Mika Muliaina (still only 19) feeding through - though might have seen the next WC 10 playing First 15 Rugby yesterday in Fletcher Cooper. Commentators were talking about him in the same terms as Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie - think Y12 and he looks serious quality and he just stood out - though have to say first time I watched XV 15 game in awhile, size of some of the players!

I think it's far too soon to be predicting career trajectories so far out. There are plenty of decent U20s players who never even make the step up to provincial level, let alone Super or international.

Bronze was a pretty good,result considering the towellings we have had from the poms and frogs in recent tournaments. NZRU will need to fend off a cashed up NRL and contine to develope youth in the future.