IRB Junior World Championships

[JJR]

Too much muscle not enough skill perhaps?

Knew that would come up...HA HA. Actually on the day it seemed like we didn't have enough size; because we were being tackled back all day and could not gain any momentum. Simply Put; they had a off day and i think it was compounded ny the fact that the coach did not have a settled starting 15; on average we made 8 changes to the match 22 everytime we played. Baby Boks only started getting things together late in the second half. England kicking game was also brilliant; they didn't allow the Baby Boks to create any momentum...they def. did their homwork. Like most South African teams; if you can stop the big Runners from gaining ground, half the battle in already won. Well Done England, wanted it more on the day.

BTW; don't like the how the pools were setup. How can two of the ***le contenders be put in one group? Semi finals should always consist of NZ, SA, AUS and England. They will always have the best sides at this level of the game.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Knew that would come up...HA HA. Actually on the day it seemed like we didn't have enough size; because we were being tackled back all day and could not gain any momentum. Simply Put; they had a off day and i think it was compounded ny the fact that the coach did not have a settled starting 15; on average we made 8 changes to the match 22 everytime we played. Baby Boks only started getting things together late in the second half. England kicking game was also brilliant; they didn't allow the Baby Boks to create any momentum...they def. did their homwork. Like most South African teams; if you can stop the big Runners from gaining ground, half the battle in already won. Well Done England, wanted it more on the day.

BTW; don't like the how the pools were setup. How can two of the ***le contenders be put in one group? Semi finals should always consist of NZ, SA, AUS and England. They will always have the best sides at this level of the game.

Are the French not considered good enough for you? No need for the sour grapes mate.

 

[erwanseb]

Selective Memory

Are the French not considered good enough for you? No need for the sour grapes mate.

He has a selective memory and forgot the thumping they received in 2006 (U19): France 42 South Africa 3 (Dubai).

That was the U19 at the time as both former categories U19 and U21 merged into a single one U20, the U20 is quite recent.

And BTW, France was U21 world champion in 2007 beating SA in the final.

 

[Darwin]

Knew that would come up...HA HA. Actually on the day it seemed like we didn't have enough size; because we were being tackled back all day and could not gain any momentum. Simply Put; they had a off day and i think it was compounded ny the fact that the coach did not have a settled starting 15; on average we made 8 changes to the match 22 everytime we played. Baby Boks only started getting things together late in the second half. England kicking game was also brilliant; they didn't allow the Baby Boks to create any momentum...they def. did their homwork. Like most South African teams; if you can stop the big Runners from gaining ground, half the battle in already won. Well Done England, wanted it more on the day.

BTW; don't like the how the pools were setup. How can two of the ***le contenders be put in one group? Semi finals should always consist of NZ, SA, AUS and England. They will always have the best sides at this level of the game.

Why should the semi finals always consist of these four teams? France just beat Australia, so clearly deserve their spot in the semis this year....

Onto the semi's...It's unfortunate for Australia that Liam Gill was called back to play for the Reds without playing a game for the U20's, as he could have made a huge impact during this tournament. He was probably the best player on the park for the Reds last weekend, and it would have been great to see him matchup with NZ's Sam Cane. It will be interesting to see what lineup the NZ team puts out; I'm picking a starting lineup of:
Sakalia, Taylor, Tameifuna, Luatua, Bird, Shields, Cane, Whitelock, Pernara, Anscombe, Piutau, Sopoaga, Saili, Robertson, Barrett.
I wouldn't be surprised if Kainga, Retallick, Axtens, Llewellyn, or Naholo were included in this lineup though...

 

[smartcooky]

BTW; don't like the how the pools were setup. How can two of the ***le contenders be put in one group? Semi finals should always consist of NZ, SA, AUS and England. They will always have the best sides at this level of the game.

Three pools, five contenders (I would argue that France a very much in contention this year. They looked impressive in their win against Australia) this means that at least two pools are going to have two genuine contenders

What gives these four teams the divine right to be in the semis?

FYI: Three pools of four. The Pool Winners (New Zealand, FRANCE, England all of whom were undefeated) go through, and they are joined by the best placed pool runner up from any pool. Australia and South Africa finished on 11 table points, so it was decided on points difference... Australia 66 South Africa only 43.

The fact is that if South Africa were good enough, they would have made the semis, They weren't so they didn't. Simples!!

 

[coonor]

After watching the Ireland games I am very pleasantly surprised with the amount of support we have had at each game. Its really good to hear the voices of the Irish fans even at this age group.

 

[ranger]

Why should the semi finals always consist of these four teams? France just beat Australia, so clearly deserve their spot in the semis this year....

Onto the semi's...It's unfortunate for Australia that Liam Gill was called back to play for the Reds without playing a game for the U20's, as he could have made a huge impact during this tournament. He was probably the best player on the park for the Reds last weekend, and it would have been great to see him matchup with NZ's Sam Cane. It will be interesting to see what lineup the NZ team puts out; I'm picking a starting lineup of:
Sakalia, Taylor, Tameifuna, Luatua, Bird, Shields, Cane, Whitelock, Pernara, Anscombe, Piutau, Sopoaga, Saili, Robertson, Barrett.
I wouldn't be surprised if Kainga, Retallick, Axtens, Llewellyn, or Naholo were included in this lineup though...

I don't think they will run out their top side just yet. I expect the guys that barely miss out on the "A" lineup will get the nod in this match with the best side only rolled out for the final. So Axtens and Naholo etc to get a run here, the likes of Pleasants-Tate and George have probably played their last match however.

Also, Codie Taylor has been a outplayed by Setefano so far in my opinion. Too many risky and ill-advised plays by the latter.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Question: how many players of each team play regularly for professional sides? I know that for France, Doussain plays most of Toulouse'e matches and a few others get some Top 14 minutes, but not that much. For Australia and NZ it seems that some of them get Super Rugby gametime (Faingaa, Sopoaga... I think these two are actually regular starters?) but what about the rest? South Africa? England, Wales?

 

[Darwin]

Question: how many players of each team play regularly for professional sides? I know that for France, Doussain plays most of Toulouse'e matches and a few others get some Top 14 minutes, but not that much. For Australia and NZ it seems that some of them get Super Rugby gametime (Faingaa, Sopoaga... I think these two are actually regular starters?) but what about the rest? South Africa? England, Wales?

Few from Australia, NZ, or South Africa have had much professional rugby. Lima Sopoaga is the only one from NZ with a full time Super Rugby contract, and has been getting regular starts for the Highlanders (only because Colin Slade has been injured for most of the season though). Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara and Gareth Anscombe were included in Super Rugby wider training squads, and both Cane and Barrett and have had a few minutes this season. The rest of the squad haven't played any Super Rugby. That is generally the case with NZ Under 20 teams, with most players only making it into Super Rugby a couple of years after playing in the U20 tournament (I can only think of 7 from last years team that are included in Super Rugby squads this year: Moli, Kerr-Barlow, Blyeendaal, Ngatai, Savea, Veainu, Marshall).

The Australia side have Colby Faingaa, Ed Quirk, Michael Hooper, and Tom Kingston that I know have played a limited amount of Super Rugby (Faingaa has played by for the most of the four), though none are regular starters (you could perhaps argue Faingaa was a semi-regular starter). Liam Gill and Dom Shipperly were initially in the squad but were recalled to the Reds due to a number of injuries.

The only South African players that I know have played Super Rugby are Mjekevu and Taute. Taute was a regular starter for the Lions, and was a late inclusion after Lions finished their Super Rugby campaign (he replaced an injured Barry).[TABLE="width: 142"]
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[ranger]

Darwin beat me to it, forgot to hit enter

 

[TRF_Olyy]

From England:
Vunipola, Thomas, Gray and Farrell play regularly,
I think most of the squad have played at least a few for their clubs though

 

[ranger]

From England:
Vunipola, Thomas, Gray and Farrell play regularly,
I think most of the squad have played at least a few for their clubs though

Looking forward to the experienced professional England side vs the upstart underdog NZ matchup should they meet in the finals.

 

[iWin]

From England:
Vunipola, Thomas, Gray and Farrell play regularly,
I think most of the squad have played at least a few for their clubs though

Daly's had quite a bit of game time as well, hasn't he?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah, that he has - Was just looking down the list of names and seeing which stood out to me, tbh

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Question: how many players of each team play regularly for professional sides? I know that for France, Doussain plays most of Toulouse'e matches and a few others get some Top 14 minutes, but not that much. For Australia and NZ it seems that some of them get Super Rugby gametime (Faingaa, Sopoaga... I think these two are actually regular starters?) but what about the rest? South Africa? England, Wales?

For SA, Taute at fullback was a regular in Super rugby for the Lions while Mjekevu on the wing also had a game or two for the young Lions side.

 

[superprop]

Most of the Irish players have at least played in the Magners. Gilroy and Conway appear pretty reguarly.

 

[profitius]

Most of the Irish players have at least played in the Magners. Gilroy and Conway appear pretty reguarly.

The forwards have very little if any ML experience. Most of the backs have plenty of ML appearences though.

 

[superprop]

The forwards have very little if any ML experience. Most of the backs have plenty of ML appearences though.

Yeah that's because our forwards sevelop slower. Expect Murphy to get a few appearences.

 

[Darwin]

NZ side named for the semi:
1 Solomona Sakalia
2 Codie Taylor
3 Ben Tameifuna
4 Steven Luatua
5 Brodie Rettalick
6 Brad Shields
7 Sam Cane
8 Luke Whitelock, captain
9 TJ Perenara
10 Gareth Anscombe
11 Charles Piutau
12 Lima Sopoaga
13 Glen Robertson
14 Francis Saili
15 Beauden Barrett

16 Sefo Setefano
17 Michael Kainga
18 Dominic Bird
19 Carl Axtens
20 Brad Weber
21 Mitchell Scott
22 Waisake Naholo

Almost exactly the side I predicted, with the exception of Rettalick for Bird, and Robertson and Saili switching positions.

 

[kovana]

Wow... At least 10 players of Poly and melanesian origin in that NZ team..

Awesome.... Represent fellas!