Dramatic day ends with New Zealand failing to make the Under-20 semi-finals
Wednesday’s closing pool fixtures at the Under-20s World Cup in Argentina provided a feast of entertainment that left the host nation celebrating a semi-final clinching win over 2018 champions France on the same day that New Zealand were eliminated from the tournament on the back of their 25-17 loss to South Africa.
The South Africans and the Kiwis arrived into their meeting in Rosario deadlocked on 10 points apiece after each had wins over Georgia and Scotland in the opening rounds. However, rather than both sides producing a result that would have seen both teams progress to the last four, South Africa’s first-half dominance proved vital.
The led 19-3 at the break and while New Zealand managed to claw back some of that deficit in the second half, they still finished eight points adrift in a 25-17 defeat.
Their failure to clinch a losing bonus point was critical as it meant they finished fifth best in the overall rankings, one point behind fourth-place France who will now play South Africa in the semi-finals.
New Zealand thought it was mission accomplished with just five minutes remaining when they scored a converted try through Lalomilo Lalomilo to cut the margin to five points.
It's the @JuniorBoks who come out on top in the Pool C decider with their late penalty not only making certain of the win but also denying @AllBlacks U20s a place in the semi-finals alongside them! pic.twitter.com/oSU1evzkVm
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 12, 2019
However, they were left crestfallen by a penalty two minutes from time by Sanele Nohamba which denied them the all-important bonus point they needed to progress. They will now play Wales in a semi-final play-off for fifth place.
Argentina will take on Australia on the other side of the draw following their thrilling 47-26 win over the French, who came into the tournament as defending champions following their win in the 2018 final over England.
Ireland’s 38-14 win over Italy earlier on Wednesday meant that the English were already out of the semi-final reckoning before they even kicked off against Australia in Santa Fe. They had lost to Ireland and struggled to an unimpressive victory over Italy.
It's a day for the forwards ?
JJ van der Mescht romps up the field to notch one up for the big fellas! #WorldRugbyU20s @JuniorBoks pic.twitter.com/JGzv14tztk
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 12, 2019
However, they finally found their feet versus an already qualified Australia and they ran out convincing 56-33 winners with an eight-try performance that featured two scores from Worcester’s Ted Hill. That was enough to earn them a fifth-place semi-final fixture against Ireland, their opening round nemesis.
The day’s other eye-catching result was Georgia’s deserved 17-12 win over Scotland.
'The calibre and skill set of the players being developed speaks to a bright future for the Lelos' – @alexshawsport hails a seminal result for @GeorgianRugby at the World Rugby under-20 championship ?https://t.co/VhF6Lm7NVy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 12, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments