Brent Liufau: 'Special night playing against my cousin for New Zealand'

France versus New Zealand was a spicy rematch last Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship. The French, the defending three-in-a-row champions from 2018, 2019 and 2023, hadn’t liked it one bit that they were pipped by the Baby Blacks in a pool game 10 days earlier in Stellenbosch.

It meant they had to qualify for the semi-final as the sole best runner-up from the three pools at the 12-team tournament in South Africa.

However, as soon as they learned they had booked a semi-final versus pool rivals New Zealand, they knuckled down and were a force of nature from the first whistle at Cape Town Stadium. They scored two tries in the opening seven minutes and never looked like being reeled in by the scrambling Kiwis.

Brent Liufau lapped up what he witnessed from the stands before getting involved, being introduced as a 65th-minute replacement for Geoffrey Malaterre with the French 48-24 up. Making the appearance all the more special for him was that he got to play against his first cousin, New Zealand centre Xavi Taele.

“The group was exceptional,” he told RugbyPass following the 55-31 win. “It was a special night playing against my cousin for New Zealand but it was very good for my team. It [losing in Stellenbosch] helped in the preparation, it was a level-up. To score more than 50 points was fantastic. It’s a great project for the team, it’s a very good group and they play for the coach and the manager.

“The young players for France are very, very, very good because all the team are friends, they are in the Top 14. The league is a good level and coming here, there is no pressure because we have that experience. It’s extra special for us to have the number 10 that we have [Hugo Reus]. It needs a cool head and it’s a rush for the team, for the group, to have a good captain.”

Back to the intriguing family connection bit – how come Liufau was representing France and playing against a cousin in the New Zealand shirt who was schooled at Saint Kentigern College in Auckland and made a Super Rugby Pacific debut this year for the Blues?

New Caledonia is the link as it is where the family hails from. Liufau, who was part of last year’s U20 Championship-winning squad, picked up the game in Noumea and it was in 2020, in his mid-teens, when he was invited to Pau. Two years later, the back-rower was playing for France U18s and having since made a Top 14 breakthrough at his club, the country is now very much his home.

“Xavi is a son of my uncle. We spoke before and after the game. It was an excellent game for my family, it was very good. No, they are not here in Cape Town. It's a long travel from New Caledonia, so it’s not possible to come.”

They will be tuning in again next Friday to see how the final goes against England, the team that Liufau and co lost to in the Six Nations at Pau in March. “The game in Pau, it was not good vibes because we lost and is a reference for England on Friday.”

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