WR U20 Championship 2026

Rambo to lead Bokkies
Saturday’s match will kick off at 6:30pm (SA time).

JUNIOR SPRINGBOKS – 15 Luan Giliomee, 14 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Ethan Adams, 11 Jordan Steenkamp, 10 Alzeadon Felix, 9 Hendré Schoeman, 8 Vuyo Gwiji, 7 Gert Kemp, 6 Risima Khosa, 5 JD Hattingh, 4 Jaythen Orange, 3 Luan van der Berg, 2 Liam van Wyk, 1 Rambo Kubheka (c).
Bench: 16 Siphosetho Mnebelele, 17 Jordan Jooste, 18 Danie Kruger, 19 Thomas Beling, 20 Wasi Vyambwera, 21 Jayden Brits, 22 Akahluwa Boqwana, 23 Cheswill Jooste.

Should be captain on name alone!

Ahmed will only played from the 3rd match. He has been awesome this season. Unlucky to get red against the Zimbos This season CC should set him up for URC with the Stormers.

Argentina destroying rugby in the USA. Absolute belting.

NZ v Japan 21 - 7 in the 30h minute. Game being played in the rain.

@antipodean said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

NZ v Japan 21 - 7 in the 30h minute. Game being played in the rain.

I turned it on after seeing your post only to see a Japanese infant score a try.

Must be about four years in a row now this tournament has been played in shit weather.

Jesus, what is with New Zealand players incapable of keeping a kick off in play ffs?

And Japan destroys New Zealand's scrum on halfway.

This NZ team is pants

Is this the same Japan U20 that got pumped by the NZ University side?

I switched channels at one stage to see the score and the broadcast was interrupted. I will watch the 1st half replay, but what did Muliaina do to get his YC?

@Bovidae said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

I switched channels at one stage to see the score and the broadcast was interrupted. I will watch the 1st half replay, but what did Muliaina do to get his YC?

Accumulation of team warnings, was off side.

We have a contest here, aided by New Zealand's shocking discipline.

This might be the dumbest NZ 20s side ive ever seen

Just moronic decision after moronic decision

@KiwiMurph bi product of the NZ pathway system?

@Steven-Harris said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

@KiwiMurph bi product of the NZ pathway system?

Was interesting to hear a comment recently that the 20s program will be changing now that Don Tricker is back

If they put as much practice into basic skills and rugby know how as they do for haka practice they might actually be able to compete with the big boys…

@Stag said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

If they put as much practice into basic skills and rugby know how as they do for haka practice they might actually be able to compete with the big boys…

They spend all of thirty minutes learning the haka, but sure that's the problem.

@KiwiMurph said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Was interesting to hear a comment recently that the 20s program will be changing now that Don Tricker is back

In what way? Is Kane Jury's role changing?

@Daffy-Jaffy said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

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So did the result stand?

@Nepia said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

@Daffy-Jaffy said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

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So did the result stand?

It did.

I watched the 1st half of the NZ-Japan match and noticed a few times that the Scottish commentators were talking up the influence of Brock James for the Japanese attack. The only problem is that he is a NZ assistant coach.

Staggering from one of the Blues HP lads i wont name him just in case there’s repercussions from NZ Rugby
This particular HP manager informed me if the Blues and Chiefs Under 20s try to run an unsanctioned game again in the near future it will be blocked by NZ Rugby.
It beggars belief that pathways are being pulled at all levels and you wonder why we are getting the quality dished in its poorest form at World U20 level
Is there any other sport thats administering its own death sentence atm ?
Patients running the asylum at NZ Rugby

So that would be Matt Sexton's directive. Muppets.

A couple of injured players are back. And a 6:2 bench.

Max Fale is listed as 2.03m and 122kg as a 19 year old. Good to see some younger units coming through.

Frost looks even bigger.

@cgrant said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Frost looks even bigger.

Bit of a difference
Frost 1.98m 116 kg
Fale 2.03m. 122 kg

I am surprised Frost isn't the heavier of the two. He definitely looks shorter but more muscular.

So I just looked up Max Fale and was expecting to see an Islander but instead he's a ginga white dude.

@Nepia said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

So I just looked up Max Fale and was expecting to see an Islander but instead he's a ginga white dude.

Thought the same when I first saw him listed in the U20 squad, particularly with Micah Fale in the team.

At halftime the score is 17 to NZ U20s, 7 to Scotland U20s. Positives: the additions of Tocker and Lasaqa to the squad, the attacking maul, the defensive lineout, all-round defensive work rate.

The negatives: the offensive lineout, the defensive maul, the complete lack of any sort of backline cohesion, generally losing the collision contest.

The too-negative-to-put-into-words: the scrum. I find this to be unbelievably frustrating, mostly because I’ve also spent an ungodly amount of time watching eligible props, and this was always going to happen with the props they’ve selected. If some schmuck like me can tell what’s going to happen before a ball was kicked this U20 season, what is the high-performance unit at NZR actually doing?

The NZ U20s could easily lose this game because they don’t have any way of fixing either their scrum or their maul defence inside the 22. Good stuff.

Maul defense needs alot of work. A few handling errors creeping in now when we are on attack

Pleased to see them turn down 3 there

Ref penalized us alot at scrum time..Hard to known if he was just pedantic or we were poor

@Kiwidom said in WR U20 Championship 2026:

Ref penalized us alot at scrum time..Hard to known if he was just pedantic or we were poor

There were one or two debatable ones (one in the beginning with the Scottish pack walking around and one near the end where there was a clear early engage from the Scots) but I'd say most of them were pretty clear cut.

The Scottish pack clearly showed dominance. You could even say the ref gave the Kiwi scrum the benefit of the doubt throughout the first half but once he started penalizing the NZ U20 scrum, he didn't stop. And you'd have to say, rightly so.

It's hard to see this side amounting to much in this tournament with such a wonky set piece. They might make it to the Championship bracket simply due to the (low) quality of the group but that should be about as far as it goes.

@Mauss I thought with Jason Ryan and Dane Coles spending time in camp we would see improvements in this area.
Its concerning the Scottish scrum giving us trouble as the opposition will only get better as we move forward in the tournament