New Zealand Under 20 side named

[ranger]

Forwards
Carl Axtens* - Bay of Plenty
Dominic Bird - Canterbury
Heiden Bedwell-Curtis - Taranaki
Sam Cane*# - Bay of Plenty
Michael Kainga - Wellington
Steven Luatua* - Auckland
Greg Pleasants-Tate - North Harbour
Brodie Rettalick - Hawke's Bay
Solomona Sakalia* - Wellington
Sefo Setefano - Waikato
Brad Shields - Wellington
Ben Tameifuna* - Hawke's Bay
Codie Taylor* - Canterbury

Backs
Gareth Anscombe* - Auckland
Beauden Barrett - Taranaki
Nathan George - Waikato
Rhys Llewellyn - Canterbury
Waisake Naholo - Taranaki
TJ Perenara*# - Wellington
Charles Piutau* - Auckland
Glen Robertson^ - Waikato
Francis Saili* - Auckland
Mitchell Scott - Tasman
Lima Sopoaga* - Wellington
Brad Weber - Otago
Luke Whitelock^ - Canterbury

Note:

* denotes member of 2009 New Zealand Schools team

# denotes member of the 2009 New Zealand Under 17 programme

^ denotes member of the 2010 New Zealand Under 20 team
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/4937914/NZ-U-20-rugby-squad-to-defend-world-***le

Looks like one of the strongest age grade sides i've seen. Props may be a wee bit shaky in the tight and the strikepower on the wings doesn't look as ridiculous as previous years, but everywhere else is very classy.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I'm sure it's yet another team of complete freaks

 

[Shaggy]

Looks like one of the strongest age grade sides i've seen. Props may be a wee bit shaky in the tight and the strikepower on the wings doesn't look as ridiculous as previous years, but everywhere else is very classy.

Looking forward to this tournament again, I don't pretend to know all of the players yet, but look forward to seeing some of the games and how these guys go.

It will be interesting to see if they can fit Anscombe, Barrett, Sopoanga into the same backline, or if not, who gets the starts in the top games

 

[Darwin]

A good looking squad. It will be interesting to see how they use their three start first-fives (Sopoaga, Barrett, Anscombe); I'd imagine one will play fullback, and one may partner Francis Saili (or Rhys Llewellyn) in the midfield. I agree the wing talent doesn't look as threatening as previous years, but Glenn Robertson and Charles Piutau look to be good players (I haven't seen Naholo or Scott).

Surprised to see Reg Goodes didn't make it into the squad - I thought he would have been an ideal player to cover prop/hooker. In wonder whether he is injured? The loose-forward trio looks to be strong (as usual), with Luke Whitelock and Sam Cane bound to start alongside one of Shields, Bedwell-Curtis or Axtens (I'd prefer Shields.)

Generally I find the Under 20 RWC to be the best quality rugby I watch all year, so I'll be looking to this years tournament as usual.

 

[ranger]

Looking forward to this tournament again, I don't pretend to know all of the players yet, but look forward to seeing some of the games and how these guys go.

It will be interesting to see if they can fit Anscombe, Barrett, Sopoanga into the same backline, or if not, who gets the starts in the top games

Sopoaga has played a lot of 12 (Including for the NZ schools with Anscombe at 10),so i assume he will just take that spot and drop out of the running for firstfive. Barrett v Anscombe for 10 will be really interesting, but i think Barretts experience at 15 may see him drop back. I've also heard that the coach is quite fond of Gareth Anscombe..

 

[Shaggy]

Sopoaga has played a lot of 12 (Including for the NZ schools with Anscombe at 10),so i assume he will just take that spot and drop out of the running for firstfive. Barrett v Anscombe for 10 will be really interesting, but i think Barretts experience at 15 may see him drop back. I've also heard that the coach is quite fond of Gareth Anscombe..

Yeah, it must be difficult sometimes when Dad's the coach, and the son is one of the top players ... maybe Anscombe senior will do what he did with Auckland, and leave it to the assistant coach (if he has one) to select the backs.

Being from Nelson myself, i'd be interested if you know much about Mitchell Scott ... I googled, and it looks like he's a Fullback

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Rhys Llewellyn - one of the Welshest names going

 

[Darwin]

Rhys Llewellyn - one of the Welshest names going

I think we poached him from Wales as well

 

[TRF_Olyy]

A quick google search tells me you're right - Born and raised in Bridgend and moved to NZ when he was 16



Typical All Blacks, poaching NH players

 

[Darwin]

A quick google search tells me you're right - Born and raised in Bridgend and moved to NZ when he was 16



Typical All Blacks, poaching NH players

Yep, and just to **** the Welsh off we plan to give him one Sevens cap, then discard him, so he can never play for Wales

 

[smartcooky]

I think we poached him from Wales as well

Yep. He was born in Bridgend.

A quote from walesonline.co.uk circa 2009...

[TEXTAREA]Bridgend could have its first ever All Black in 17-year-old Rhys Llewellyn. Bridgend born and bred Rhys, formerly of Morfa Street, is making his mark in rugby down under after learning his trade at Brynteg Comprehensive and the Bridgend Athletic club.

Rhys played for the Bridgend & District Under-16s and then the Ospreys Under-16s, where he came under the guidance of Lynn Jones and Filo Tiatia.

<noscript>* </noscript> In September 2007 Rhys emigrated to New Zealand with his family and gained a scholarship to St Beales College, Christchurch, where he soon made the college first team.
[/TEXTAREA]

PS: Typo in there. They mean St Bedes College. (someone has mistaken a "d" for an a "al" in handwritten copy. Happens a lot.)

 

[ranger]

A good looking squad. It will be interesting to see how they use their three start first-fives (Sopoaga, Barrett, Anscombe); I'd imagine one will play fullback, and one may partner Francis Saili (or Rhys Llewellyn) in the midfield. I agree the wing talent doesn't look as threatening as previous years, but Glenn Robertson and Charles Piutau look to be good players (I haven't seen Naholo or Scott).

Surprised to see Reg Goodes didn't make it into the squad - I thought he would have been an ideal player to cover prop/hooker. In wonder whether he is injured? The loose-forward trio looks to be strong (as usual), with Luke Whitelock and Sam Cane bound to start alongside one of Shields, Bedwell-Curtis or Axtens (I'd prefer Shields.)

Generally I find the Under 20 RWC to be the best quality rugby I watch all year, so I'll be looking to this years tournament as usual.

-Piutau and Robertson look like good players, but they don't really strike me as gamebreakers on attack. Robertson looks like a Dwayne Sweeney type of player, whilst Piutau looks like a solid ITM cup/ fringe Super 14 guy.
Naholo is without a doubt the best pure attacker but he has some shockingly rough edges. At the Queenstown 7s he came on and stunned the crowd by effortlessly walking through everyone, and then while he was jogging to an open tryline with no one near him he just clean dropped the ball. He can look like Caucau at times but he pulls that kind of brain dead nonsense far too often.

-I'm almost 100% sure Goodes is injured, he hasn't been featuring for his club.. As for the loose forward mix, i honestly see Bedwell-Curtis as one of the top few most promising players in the country, Sam Cane will undoubtably have the inside running but i rate Curtis ahead of him. I'd love to see a Whitelock/Bedwell-Curtis/Cane trio.

Yeah, it must be difficult sometimes when Dad's the coach, and the son is one of the top players ... maybe Anscombe senior will do what he did with Auckland, and leave it to the assistant coach (if he has one) to select the backs.

Being from Nelson myself, i'd be interested if you know much about Mitchell Scott ... I googled, and it looks like he's a Fullback

Yeah its not a situation i would want to be in to be honest.. And i can't say i know too much about Scott, ive seen alot of the other guys through playing in the north island but there are only a few opportunities to get down south. If i were to make a sweeping generalisation about Nelson Boys' products he is probably a exceedingly clever, full of guile and pretty goddamn cocky.

 

[Darwin]

-Piutau and Robertson look like good players, but they don't really strike me as gamebreakers on attack. Robertson looks like a Dwayne Sweeney type of player, whilst Piutau looks like a solid ITM cup/ fringe Super 14 guy.
Naholo is without a doubt the best pure attacker but he has some shockingly rough edges. At the Queenstown 7s he came on and stunned the crowd by effortlessly walking through everyone, and then while he was jogging to an open tryline with no one near him he just clean dropped the ball. He can look like Caucau at times but he pulls that kind of brain dead nonsense far too often.

Oh well Naholo may be interesting to watch at least. Yeah Dwayne Sweeney is exactly the person I would have compared Robertson to as well (from what I've seen of him) - quite short and stocky, with a habit of cutting back against the traffic. I'd imagine his style of play could be quite effective in this tournament though.

-I'm almost 100% sure Goodes is injured, he hasn't been featuring for his club.. As for the loose forward mix, i honestly see Bedwell-Curtis as one of the top few most promising players in the country, Sam Cane will undoubtably have the inside running but i rate Curtis ahead of him. I'd love to see a Whitelock/Bedwell-Curtis/Cane trio.

I've heard a lot of good things about Bedwell-Curtis, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a trio of 6. Cane, 7. Bedwell-Curtis, 8. Whitelock. There is a possibility that Shields may even start at lock as well to give them a very mobile forward pack. Do you know anything about Carl Axtens? I know there was a lot of disappointment in the Otago region that Gareth Evans didn't make the team, as he's been an outstanding at 6 or 8 in club rugby, very much like young Adam Thomson (seems to be everywhere, good at the breakdown, and really good lineout option).... if Axtens was picked ahead of him he must be an exceptional player as well.

 

[ranger]

Oh well Naholo may be interesting to watch at least. Yeah Dwayne Sweeney is exactly the person I would have compared Robertson to as well (from what I've seen of him) - quite short and stocky, with a habit of cutting back against the traffic. I'd imagine his style of play could be quite effective in this tournament though.



I've heard a lot of good things about Bedwell-Curtis, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a trio of 6. Cane, 7. Bedwell-Curtis, 8. Whitelock. There is a possibility that Shields may even start at lock as well to give them a very mobile forward pack. Do you know anything about Carl Axtens? I know there was a lot of disappointment in the Otago region that Gareth Evans didn't make the team, as he's been an outstanding at 6 or 8 in club rugby, very much like young Adam Thomson (seems to be everywhere, good at the breakdown, and really good lineout option).... if Axtens was picked ahead of him he must be an exceptional player as well.

Yeah i don't think Naholo will be trusted with any challenging games, but he should be great value against the lesser teams. He absolutely ripped the Russian national team to shreds earlier in the year.

As for Gareth Evans i think hes just very unlucky to be born at the time he was, he would have walked in any other year but this looks to be the most talented crop of loose forwards in a very long time (His teammate Mark Atkins would probably have been worth a shout in another year too).
As good as Evans is i can see why they went with Axtens. He was the starting NZ schools number 8 in 6th form which is an amazing achievement, and was a certainty for NZ captain in 09 had he not fallen to injury. Hes a dynamic all over the show sort of player, one of those guys that sprints all over the paddock and throws his body at things like his life depends on it, he can play from 5-8 (Although hes probably too short to keep up the locking). Hes a similar player to Keiran Reid i guess.

Interestingly, Whitelock appears to be the weakest link to me. Hes a second term player so he can expect to start but i can't help but think reputation was a factor..

 

[Darwin]

Yeah i don't think Naholo will be trusted with any challenging games, but he should be great value against the lesser teams. He absolutely ripped the Russian national team to shreds earlier in the year.

As for Gareth Evans i think hes just very unlucky to be born at the time he was, he would have walked in any other year but this looks to be the most talented crop of loose forwards in a very long time (His teammate Mark Atkins would probably have been worth a shout in another year too).
As good as Evans is i can see why they went with Axtens. He was the starting NZ schools number 8 in 6th form which is an amazing achievement, and was a certainty for NZ captain in 09 had he not fallen to injury. Hes a dynamic all over the show sort of player, one of those guys that sprints all over the paddock and throws his body at things like his life depends on it, he can play from 5-8 (Although hes probably too short to keep up the locking). Hes a similar player to Keiran Reid i guess.

Interestingly, Whitelock appears to be the weakest link to me. Hes a second term player so he can expect to start but i can't help but think reputation was a factor..

I wouldn't be surprised if Evans or Atkins actually get a few games for the Otago team this year, because they have both stood out for Dunedin at club level. Will be good to see Axtens playing, as he sounds like another promising player - they may even be tempted to play him at lock if he is capable there (if they are wanting to play the expansive game which seems so effective at this level).

I wasn't overly impressed by Luke Whitelock through most of last years tournament; he was certainly overshadowed by both Rory Grice and Sean Polwart. In fact I was slightly surprised he even got selected for the final, however I thought he had a standout game in the final. If he can play as well as he did in that final I will be very happy, otherwise there are plenty of other options (as you have mentioned).

A couple of other interesting omissions in my opinion are Hanipale Galo and Chauncy Edwardson. I would have thought that one of them would have made the squad ahead of Nathan George. Nothing against George (as I've never seen him play), but he would be only the 4th ranked first-five in the squad, so he seems a bit superfluous to me, while there are only really two specialist mid-field backs in the squad (Rhys Llewellyn & Francis Saili). Does George cover an position other than first-five?

 

[nickdnz]

Good to see Solomona Sakalia in there, he was a beast for Wellington College, now playing for Marist St Pats?

 

[Peat]

How many f**king Whitelocks are there?!

 

[Darwin]

How many f**king Whitelocks are there?!

Four. Luke is the youngest.

 

[ranger]

I wouldn't be surprised if Evans or Atkins actually get a few games for the Otago team this year, because they have both stood out for Dunedin at club level. Will be good to see Axtens playing, as he sounds like another promising player - they may even be tempted to play him at lock if he is capable there (if they are wanting to play the expansive game which seems so effective at this level).

I wasn't overly impressed by Luke Whitelock through most of last years tournament; he was certainly overshadowed by both Rory Grice and Sean Polwart. In fact I was slightly surprised he even got selected for the final, however I thought he had a standout game in the final. If he can play as well as he did in that final I will be very happy, otherwise there are plenty of other options (as you have mentioned).

A couple of other interesting omissions in my opinion are Hanipale Galo and Chauncy Edwardson. I would have thought that one of them would have made the squad ahead of Nathan George. Nothing against George (as I've never seen him play), but he would be only the 4th ranked first-five in the squad, so he seems a bit superfluous to me, while there are only really two specialist mid-field backs in the squad (Rhys Llewellyn & Francis Saili). Does George cover an position other than first-five?

Atkins especially is a really interesting prospect for Otago. He already has the build and athleticism of an NFL tightend or linebacker, if he could just get a bit more of a workrate and game sense he could realistically step into the ITM cup right now. And yeah i think we could see either Axtens or Shields at lock, they are undersized for the position but with the 2.06m Dominic Bird in the team there is still plenty of height in the lineout.

Chauncy Edwardson would have been a dead certainty but he has been injured most of the year, Galo can count himself unlucky though. I haven't seen him play since he left Wellington but he a handfull when he was here.
George has probably been picked as an all round utility covering 9-15 excluding wing. 1st 5 is definitely his best position however and it does look like they are trying to shoehorn him in. That being said i would wager that Lima Sopoaga will play at 12 exclusively this tournament.

If i were to make a team out of these guys i would go:

1)Ben Tameifuna
2)Codie Taylor
3)Solomona Sakalia
4)Dominic Bird
5)Brad Shields
6)Sam Cane
7)Heiden Bedwell-Curtis
8)Luke Whitelock/Carl Axtens
9)TJ Perenara
10)Beauden Barrett/Anscome (They could swap in and out between each other midgame)
11)Charles Piutau
12)Lima Sopoaga
13)Francis Saili
14)Glen Robertson
15)Gareth Anscombe/Barrett

16)Micheal Kainga
17)Sefo Setefano
18)Brodie Retalick
19)Whitelock/Axtens
20)Brad Webber
21)Rhys Llewellyn
22)Waisake Naholo

Theres a fair bit of out of position play there but that side looks vicious.

 

[Darwin]

Atkins especially is a really interesting prospect for Otago. He already has the build and athleticism of an NFL tightend or linebacker, if he could just get a bit more of a workrate and game sense he could realistically step into the ITM cup right now. And yeah i think we could see either Axtens or Shields at lock, they are undersized for the position but with the 2.06m Dominic Bird in the team there is still plenty of height in the lineout.

Chauncy Edwardson would have been a dead certainty but he has been injured most of the year, Galo can count himself unlucky though. I haven't seen him play since he left Wellington but he a handfull when he was here.
George has probably been picked as an all round utility covering 9-15 excluding wing. 1st 5 is definitely his best position however and it does look like they are trying to shoehorn him in. That being said i would wager that Lima Sopoaga will play at 12 exclusively this tournament.

If i were to make a team out of these guys i would go:

1)Ben Tameifuna
2)Codie Taylor
3)Solomona Sakalia
4)Dominic Bird
5)Brad Shields
6)Sam Cane
7)Heiden Bedwell-Curtis
8)Luke Whitelock/Carl Axtens
9)TJ Perenara
10)Beauden Barrett/Anscome (They could swap in and out between each other midgame)
11)Charles Piutau
12)Lima Sopoaga
13)Francis Saili
14)Glen Robertson
15)Gareth Anscombe/Barrett

16)Micheal Kainga
17)Sefo Setefano
18)Brodie Retalick
19)Whitelock/Axtens
20)Brad Webber
21)Rhys Llewellyn
22)Waisake Naholo

Theres a fair bit of out of position play there but that side looks vicious.

Interestingly, I had almost exactly the same team in mind. I had the same backline (and backline reserves), but I had Luatua starting at lock and a loose-trio of Shields, Cane, and Whitelock (with Bedwell-Curtis on the bench), however I did seriously consider Shields at lock with a loose-trio of Cane, Bedwell-Curtis, and Whitelock.