2012 IRB Junior World Championship

[munstermuffin]

We were playing in white

A matter of speech (although our shorts were green )

 

[Peat]

Fair enough. Sounds like it was a tad one sided anyhow...

Not as much as it appeared I think - I did sleep through a bit of the first half - Italy disrupted us well to begin with. The backline restructure and the fresh legs in the tight five completely took it away from them.

Finally good to see a future Irish pack that may be actually able to front up against the top nations. Let's not forget this pack also beat France in France and ran England pretty close. Henderson seems to be putting consistently top class performances for his age and Ireland's skill at the breakdown look to be world class for this age level. Hopefully they keep it up!

You didn't - I was surprised by how much you didn't actually and was there at the occasion. Am making no assumptions about Friday however.

 

[nickdnz]

Yep, well done Ireland though I will point out that the Boks didn't have 3 starting SupeRugby players in the tight 5 as someone said. They had 1 starting SupeRugby player and 2 players who have had a few minutes. Still, it is a huge win for Ireland.

For NZ I thought we played alright. It was our first game so I wouldn't expect them to click straight away. Emery was probably the stand out player. To be honest, I think he is probably better than some of the centres we have playing SupeRugby. Keresoma was pretty good as was Ahki. I think Heenan was very hard working as was Tupou. I think Taufua is decent at what he does but from that I rate Tupou and Heenan as better players. Was it just me or was Bryn Hall a bit slow to get the ball out at times (he seemed to disappear a bit, too). Curtis was good in defense but I don't think he'll end up being much more than a provincial player at best.

I look forward to seeing Tu'ungafasi getting some more game time (hopefully against the Welsh). I hope he gets some game time for Auckland. He couldn't possibly do worse than Mailau.

Yep, he was easily the best player on the field. Pretty sure I played rugby with him for Johnsonville U8 or U9 or something, for a few games. Anyway, very impressive. I'd say the Hurricanes need to sign him up smartly because Conrad Smith is 30 so probably only has a couple of seasons left in him, and he showed a lot of potential. Broke tackles at will, amazing steps but what impressed me most was his decision making and skill sets. Looks like a very well balanced player, just hope he stays at centre.

 

[Thingimubob]

Ah didn't realise you'd played against him ginger 8! He was in the year below me at school, played with him once or twice (I never really got anywhere near the firsts), though never really spoke to him properly. Looks like a decent prospect, hoping he gets some gametime for the Blues next season, can;t be any worse than Gavin Evans

 

[bobbilycious]

Yep, he was easily the best player on the field. Pretty sure I played rugby with him for Johnsonville U8 or U9 or something, for a few games. Anyway, very impressive. I'd say the Hurricanes need to sign him up smartly because Conrad Smith is 30 so probably only has a couple of seasons left in him, and he showed a lot of potential. Broke tackles at will, amazing steps but what impressed me most was his decision making and skill sets. Looks like a very well balanced player, just hope he stays at centre.

Yea, he reminded me of Tim Nanai-Williams, only he knew when to pass and when to run. He seems to have a real feel for the game in that he knows exactly what to do. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes against some top quality opposition, both offensively and defensively. Even if he doesn't get involved with the 'Canes next year, he still has another year in the U20 squad.

I think Rennie might look at securing Topou. He seems to be the sort of player that Rennie would like. He was very good in the tight, he was hard working and very effective. He could also be pretty good lineout option.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Yea, he reminded me of Tim Nanai-Williams, only he knew when to pass and when to run. He seems to have a real feel for the game in that he knows exactly what to do. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes against some top quality opposition, both offensively and defensively. Even if he doesn't get involved with the 'Canes next year, he still has another year in the U20 squad.

I think Rennie might look at securing Topou. He seems to be the sort of player that Rennie would like. He was very good in the tight, he was hard working and very effective. He could also be pretty good lineout option.

Fairly sure Emery has signed with the Turbos, and given we are pretty light in the midfield he will probably be playing ITM cup this season so you'll get a chance to see him there. The biggest shame is that Ngani Laumape signed with the junior warriors, he was a class act for boys' high and nz schools.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Well done to Ireland on a well-deserved win. True, there were some terrible performances from some of our players (here's looking at you, scrummie) and perhaps we (fans included- I know I was guilty) were looking a bit too far ahead and got tripped up at the first hurdle but Ireland just wanted it more and took their chances and kept up the pressure to force us into many mistakes.

 

[bobbilycious]

Actually, I think I remember reading that. Thanks for the reminder.
If I remember correctly, Laumape is keen to sign up for Manawatu again as soon as his contract ends, so that is some good news.

We should be alright next year as far as U20 players, though. Michael Collins is highly rated down south and will form a good partnership with Emery.

 

[bobbilycious]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/sport/5875342/Laumape-tied-to-contract

As long as he doesn't enjoy playing for the Junior Warriors too much, he should back for 2014. Still awhile away

 

[coonor]

Not as much as it appeared I think - I did sleep through a bit of the first half - Italy disrupted us well to begin with. The backline restructure and the fresh legs in the tight five completely took it away from them.



You didn't - I was surprised by how much you didn't actually and was there at the occasion. Am making no assumptions about Friday however.

My bad seemed to think the result was closer.

 

[Shosoloza]

Well done to Ireland on a well-deserved win. True, there were some terrible performances from some of our players (here's looking at you, scrummie) and perhaps we (fans included- I know I was guilty) were looking a bit too far ahead and got tripped up at the first hurdle but Ireland just wanted it more and took their chances and kept up the pressure to force us into many mistakes.

Well you cant play with 13 against 16 players. Our no 8 weren't even on the field. I just never saw this guy made a tackle carry the ball, nothing. And then our scrumhalf playing so bad it looked like he actually played for Ireland.

Take nothing away from Ireland, they played with a lot of passion and kept mistakes to the minimum.

I am very dissapointed in Steph Du toit. What was the rave about? Why did Dawie replaced Kitshoff? Together with Adendorf they were our best palyers.

I don't know a lot about these youngsters, but I am pretty sure that there must be better players out there. From what I've seen from our school rugby Affies, Grey, Paarl Gim and Paul Roos would have put up a better performance.

 

[Darwin]

Great to see a couple of upsets on the first day! Only got to watch the NZ game, but will hopefully get to watch a few more games in the the next round. New Zealand weren't overly impressive, but did enough to win easily. Considering the perfect conditions they made far too many basic handling errors (nerves or maybe lack of combinations?). The other major issue was the lack of support for the ball runner, with players getting penalized numerous times for not releasing.

Yep, well done Ireland though I will point out that the Boks didn't have 3 starting SupeRugby players in the tight 5 as someone said. They had 1 starting SupeRugby player and 2 players who have had a few minutes. Still, it is a huge win for Ireland.

For NZ I thought we played alright. It was our first game so I wouldn't expect them to click straight away. Emery was probably the stand out player. To be honest, I think he is probably better than some of the centres we have playing SupeRugby. Keresoma was pretty good as was Ahki. I think Heenan was very hard working as was Tupou. I think Taufua is decent at what he does but from that I rate Tupou and Heenan as better players. Was it just me or was Bryn Hall a bit slow to get the ball out at times (he seemed to disappear a bit, too). Curtis was good in defense but I don't think he'll end up being much more than a provincial player at best.

I look forward to seeing Tu'ungafasi getting some more game time (hopefully against the Welsh). I hope he gets some game time for Auckland. He couldn't possibly do worse than Mailau.

Agree with that analysis. As you and others have mentioned Emery was the best player on the park. He was like a man among boys, which is a bit ironic given he is the youngest player in the NZ team (the only player available next year too), and was one of the smallest. He made something happen whenever he touched the ball, and always seemed to make the right decisions (both in attack and defense). Can't wait to see more of him against better teams.

Akhi was good, and West looks to be a good running 10, but he seems to lack a bit of distance on his punt - when Eade came on he was punting it a good 10-15m more when kicking for touch. West's limited punt will not cost the team against weak teams (as they can simply run the ball out of their half), but Eade's punting could be handy against the better teams. I agree Hall was a bit slow to the breakdown at times, but other than that looked solid, while Kerosema was very sharp (as you mentioned). I agree Curtis looks a bit limited - he actually did pretty well at times, but he lacks any explosive pace or power, so I feel will struggle to make an impact against quality players.

Both locks looked solid, and like you I was impressed with Tu'ungafasi when he came on. I though Taufua was good with ball in hand, but there certainly has plenty of competition in the loose-forwards (and Manu hasn't even played yet). I wasn't as impressed with Tupou as you seem to be - he looked a solid hard-working player, but lacked a bit of power/aggression to me. Given his size I was expecting him to break tackles or hit hard in defense, but he was more Reuben Thorne than Jerome Kaino to me. I was very impressed with Heenan, though am not sure whether 7 is the right position for him. He was ok at the breakdown, but his real strength was with the ball in hand - he seemed to break the first tackle every time, and has some beautiful handling skills. I though Blake made a good impact when he came on (though needs to be careful about lifting in the tackle) - I wonder whether they will consider starting both Heenan and Blake on the flanks against the top teams (as they did in the second half).

 

[Peat]

My bad seemed to think the result was closer.

The result - 20-9 - was closer than the performance. Partially because England weren't taking their chances, partially down to some very good Irish defence, particularly with the two sin-binnings. I think the Irish are a lot closer to us than that day suggested and got overwhelmed by the chances of a Grand Slam, so to repeat myself, I am making no assumptions about Friday.

Although the Irish backs looked a lot livelier that day. I've seen a lot of praise for Marmion and Hanrahan, but for all their individual skills the backline never really got moving despite being behind the dominant pack in that South Africa game. I'd like to think we're good enough that Ireland can't beat us totally on penalties and chargedowns!

 

[big ginger 8]

All England have to do is play Ben Spencer and let him do the sarries box kick. Hard to block a kick when you're 10 meters away.

 

[Darwin]

New Zealand have named their squad to face Wales.

[TABLE="width: 200"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]Ofa Tu'ungafasi[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]Nathan Harris[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]Eric Sione[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]Joe Latta[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]Christian Lloyd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]Taniela Manu[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]Hugh Blake[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]Jordan Taufua[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]Bryn Hall (C)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]Scott Eade[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]Junior Va'a Tofa[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]Opetera Peleseuma[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]Marnus Hanley[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]Matt Proctor[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]Martin McKenzie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]Rhys Marshall[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]Tuki Raimona[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]Fraser Armstrong[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]Nick Ross[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]Jimmy Tupou[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Jono Kitto[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Ihaia West[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]Pita Ahki[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

A pile of changes - to be honest I thought the team that played Samoa looked a bit stronger. Looking forward to seeing the likes of Tu'ungafasi, Manu, and Blake gets starts in the forwards. A new midfield and wings for this match: Peleseuma is very highly rated by some, and will need a big game if he wants to start at 12 in the playoffs, as Akhi had a strong game versus Samoa. I'll be interested to see how the wings go: Keresoma has the left wing spot sewn up, but I see the likes of Va'a Tofa, Proctor, and centre Hanley competing with Ambrose (who started the first game) for the right wing spot in the playoffs.

 

[nickdnz]

Last year when New Zealand played Wales they won by some 90 points, so it is quite possible they feel they can risk fielding a weaker team.

 

[Darwin]

Last year when New Zealand played Wales they won by some 90 points, so it is quite possible they feel they can risk fielding a weaker team.

True, but last year Wales fielded a weaker team, while we fielded close to our strongest lineup. I think we will comfortably win with the lineup we have selected, but I can't see us putting 90 points on them this year!

 

[William18]

Why play a weakened team for your toughest pool match? I think Wales deserve a bit more respect.

 

[Darwin]

Why play a weakened team for your toughest pool match? I think Wales deserve a bit more respect.

New Zealand have generally rotated their team during the pool stages of these tournaments - rather than pick an 'A' and 'B' side they normally pick sides that are a combination of first-choice and second choice players for every match. They only really play their 'top team' come playoff time, so see the pool stages as an opportunity to give all their players a chance. When I say I thought the team vs Samoa was a bit stronger (in my opinion - I could be a bit off the mark as my knowledge of many of these players is not great), I didn't mean to imply that this was a 'B' side in any way. Indeed, I think it is stronger in some positions (1, 10, 14), weaker in other positions (2, 3, 5, 11, 13), with 50:50 calls in other positions (6, 7, 12).

 

[ZeFrenchy]

I thought NZ didn't look too well in your first match, probably you need a convincing win (no only by many points, but a classt win) to get the momentum going. ("need" may be a strong word, but you know what I mean)