SHORT: Why NZ Fell Short Of Boks At U20s
episodePreviously titled “Why NZ's Fell Short Of Boks At U20s” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
Transcript
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Why did New Zealand struggle in the Under 20 Rugby Championship?
Now South Africa has taken out the under-20s tournament in South Africa, a tournament which was interesting because the three other teams appeared to be so close and South Africa appeared to be running away with it. And then in that last game, that New Zealand-South Africa game, 29 all was very, very close. Whenever New Zealand doesn't win an under-20s tournament, the questions are always being asked, we used to win these no problem at all, why aren't we winning them now? So let's kind of get into what's gone on here. Firstly, this performance after losing to Argentina against South Africa was a big step up.
Having Kane Durie on, it gave me a lot more perspective watching it, like understanding that they're setting themselves up to win a World Cup. New Zealand won this last year convincingly, and the Springboks went on to win the World Cup. I'm not saying that there's just naturally going to be roles reversed. But I think it showed that they used every member of the squad. They targeted that Argentinian game as to give a lot of opportunity to guys that are trying to stake their claim for the World Cup. And I think that's always a good thing because how do you know where guys are at if they don't get a chance? They slipped up, they didn't deliver, and then they put... I suppose their main side back in, you know, with a few injuries that are missing some key players.
But I was super impressed. One, I think the most impressive was like the Springboks have set the standard in terms of all the collision areas at under 20s.
What factors contributed to South Africa's dominance in the tournament?
Struggled at scrum time, I get that. There's no sort of helping that. It's just a mass thing and a timing thing. But I think... the line out more to get a couple of more tries is massive especially against the spring box like that that is huge and i like the nifty innovation and the speed of that first try um i think you know even when they're under pressure defensively you know there's some bad defensive reads that led to tries but i think in and around the breakdown and getting turnovers at key times finlay was good the young hooker woodley was constantly challenging but And then just when the game came in the balance, they just piggybacked themselves up the field. They obviously have six players returning.
I think the experience down that stretch was really important. And then to lead to the penalty, try to get them the result. I don't know, I think they'll be really happy coming back. They'll be gutted with a draw, but I think the nature of, South Africa obviously won it as soon as they got the bonus point, but them kicking it out and not going for the win showed, was testament to how physical and how draining that test match was. I think it holds them in really, really good stead. Having seen every player, they've got some real live footage and stuff that they can use to get growth in between now and the World Cup. And I think they've done a good job.
Now, Bryn, that's the key difference here between the New Zealand approach and the South African approach.
How did New Zealand's approach differ from South Africa's preparation?
The South Africans took a tour to Georgia in February. They brought this team together. They created combination. New Zealanders had a camp and a trial match thing against universities. They haven't put the effort into preparing for this tournament the way the South Africans have resources. And you can see it. So the question is, really, should they? You know, the question is, is it all about this world championship? Should they have been thinking more about winning the rugby championship? Or is the approach fine because it's the trophy at the end of the year that matters?
I think it's the trophy that ends with the Under 20 World Cup Championship. From where we were, let's say probably into my time when we were there, and this is going back a long time ago, but having a few camps, not having the Rugby Championship and an opportunity to be able to play in a different country and go through what it maybe looks like to be able to play against those kind of teams in Argentina. south africa and australia we didn't have that back in the day you pretty much go to a rugby world cup playing you know an npc team or a blues development or hurricanes development and then going over to play so i think the the progression of probably a decade ago is really good with having this rugby championship so yeah i think to the points that jip touched on being able to use the whole squad and being able to think of the bigger picture of winning a rugby world cup now look i guess with the all blacks and even at under 20s level with the expectations that we want them to want every single trophy that they're up for grabs and
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why did New Zealand struggle in the Under 20 Rugby Championship?
0:00–1:23
2
What factors contributed to South Africa's dominance in the tournament?
1:23–2:49
3
How did New Zealand's approach differ from South Africa's preparation?
2:49–5:26
4
What role did player selection play in New Zealand's performance?
5:26–6:41
5
How did injuries impact New Zealand's Under 20 squad?
6:41–7:45
6
What were the key tactical differences in scrummaging between the teams?
7:45–10:01
7
Which players stood out as future stars from the tournament?
10:01–10:35
8
What lessons can New Zealand learn from this Under 20 Championship?
10:35–10:49
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Aotearoa Rugby Pod
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