Six New Zealand players to watch at the World U20 Championships
The World Rugby Under 20 Championships start in South Africa later this month. New Zealand is historically the most dominant team in the tournament with six wins stretching back to 2008.
New Zealand sport an overall record of 65-14 in all Under 20s internationals and have beaten 15 countries.
But they haven’t won the World title since 2017 and struggled in a recent series against Australia with honours shared 1-all.
The backline looks stacked with several Super Rugby players and All Blacks Sevens representation, but the microscope will be put on the tight forwards who were bullied at times by the Junior Wallabies.
Here are six players to keep an eye on for New Zealand.
Gabe Robinson (Prop)
New Zealand really struggled in the scrums against Australia and in recent history set-piece has been an achilles-heel. New Zealand didn’t settle upon a tighthead in the Aussie series, but Robinson might be the best bet. Yet another product of Hamilton Boys’ High School he was rarely bettered in that winning environment predominantly playing tighthead. Robinson is aligned with the Marist club in Hamilton who won their first nine games of 2023.
Hunter Morrison (Lock)
The busy, skillful, no-nonsense lock has by his own admission matured. Initially, at Whanganui Collegiate he left the school and was driving to Palmerston North Boys’ High School over an hour away. A crash into a truck one morning was the trigger for a more serious attitude to school and rugby. In 2021 he was selected for the New Zealand Under 18 Barbarians out of the Te Kawau club. His ambitions of cracking the New Zealand Under 20s for the Oceania Championship in 2022 were ruined by a broken jaw. He recovered from that setback and flourished on the unbeaten New Zealand U19 tour of South Africa and featured prominently in the recent Australian series.
Peter Lakai (Loose forward & Co-Captain) – The No 8 out of St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, in Wellington exploded onto the New Zealand first-class scene in 2022 helping the Lions win the NPC Premiership for the first time since 2000. He made more carries (147) than any player in the competition and was third in the tackle count with 139. Following an embarrassing loss to Northland in round three Lakai scored a hat-trick in a 31-25 victory over Taranaki in the fourth round. Wellington won their next ten games in a row. Lakai has played seven matches (269 minutes) for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby this year. He played the entire 80 minutes against Moana Pasifkia (59-12) and the Blues (19-25).
Noah Hotham (Halfback & Co-Captain)
Staggeringly, Hotham was unwanted by Otago for the NPC in 2022 so he was snapped up by Tasman and was named Young Player of the Year by the New Zealand Rugby Players Association. The halfback is an incisive runner with a quick pass and sound clearances from the boot. In 2022 he was exceptional for the ‘Baby Blacks’ who cleaned up the Oceania Championships against Fiji (74-5), Argentina (32-9), and Australia (69-12). Hotham scored tries in the Fiji and Aussie wins. Hotham has played seven times for the Crusaders earning 264 minutes and six wins. He is the son of Nigel Hotham who has coached the Hamilton Boys’ High School First XV for two decades. Hamilton has won five National championships in that tenure.
Harry Godfrey (Fullback)
With the ability to cover first five-eighth or fullback, the calculated attacking flair of Godfrey can hurt opposition in multiple ways. On Saturday Godfrey had a hand in all three tries in the 19-18 victory over Australia. In March, Godfrey won the Sir John Graham Memorial Medal as the player of the Super Rugby Under 20 tournament. With multiple injuries in the senior ranks Godfrey has appeared eight times for the Hurricanes this season amassing 194 mostly effective minutes. Godfrey is more likely to play fullback with the Crusaders Taha Kemara an option at first five-eighth beside Noah Hotham.
Macca Springer (Winger)
Returns for his second season with the U20s and will almost certainly start after his outstanding form in the Oceania Championship on the Gold Coast in 2022. Springer scored tries in the 32-9 win over Argentina and the record 69-12 obliteration of Australia. Though Tasman failed to make the semi-finals of the NPC for the first time since 2011, it was no fault of Springer. He scored a team-leading eight tries in nine games including doubles against Canterbury, Manawatu, and Auckland. Springer has featured four times for the Crusaders in 2023 and already scored four tries in his brief Super Rugby career to date.
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments