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New Zealand squad named for inaugural U20 Rugby Championship

(Photo by World Rugby via Getty Images)

The inaugural U20 Rugby Championship is set to kick off on the Sunshine Coast on May 2, and just like the senior tournament, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia and South Africa will have the chance to be crowned the best in the south.

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The New Zealand squad features 31 of the country’s finest young athletes, with selectors having identified plenty of promising talent at the recent U20 Super Rugby tournament played last month in Taupo.

While it was the Crusaders who won the tournament, it was Hurricanes loose forward Mosese Bason who took home the DJ Graham Medal as the best player in the tournament.

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Naturally, Bason has been named in the national squad which also features eight Crusaders players. Despite not making the final, the Hurricanes also boast eight representatives in the squad while the Blues have seven, the Chiefs have five and the Highlanders have three.

Three of the players have minutes in the NPC under their belt, 18 are on National Development contracts, six had featured in the 2023 national U20 squad and 21 are products of the national secondary schools programme.

“As a result of having a strong performance pathway established, we are able to assemble an exciting group of talented young men to represent New Zealand at the Rugby Championship Under 20 tournament next month,” head coach Jono Gibbes said.

“The tournament will be a great opportunity to test ourselves and gauge where we are, what we need to improve on before we embark on a competitive and tough Rugby World Championship later in the year.”

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The World Rugby U20 Championship takes place in South Africa from 29 June to 19 July. New Zealand is coming off back-to-back seventh-place finishes at the tournament.

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Gibbes emphasised his excitement for the level of talent in the 2024 squad and expressed appreciation for the high-performance programs across the country.

“Our selector network has been doing a huge amount of work in this space over the last six months. It has been a thorough and comprehensive process and one that is credit to their efforts.”

New Zealand Under 20 Squad: 

A-One Lolofie (Highlanders, Otago)
Andrew Smith (Chiefs, Waikato)
Ben O’Donovan (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Cameron Christie (Blues, North Harbour)
Cooper Grant (Crusaders, Tasman)
Dylan Pledger (Highlanders, Otago)
Frank Vaenuku (Chiefs, Bay of Plenty)
Giancarlo Tuivailala (Chiefs, Waikato)
Isaac Hutchinson (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Jeremiah Avei-Collins (Hurricanes, Wellington)
Jonathan Lee (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Josh Whaanga (Highlanders, Otago)
Joshua Smith (Hurricanes, Hawke’s Bay)
King Maxwell (Blues, Auckland)
Konradd Newland (Hurricanes, Hawke’s Bay)
Kurene Luamanuvae (Blues, Auckland)
Liam Jack (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Malachi Wrampling-Alec (Chiefs, Waikato)
Manumaua Letiu (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Matt Lowe (Crusaders, Tasman)
Mosese Bason (Hurricanes, Manawat?)
Rico Simpson (Blues, Auckland)
Sam Coles (Hurricanes, Manawat?)
Sika Pole (Blues, Auckland)
Stanley Solomon (Hurricanes, Wellington)
Toby Bell (Crusaders, Canterbury)
Tom Allen (Hurricanes, Hawke’s Bay)
Tristyn Cook (Blues, North Harbour)
Vernon Bason (Hurricanes, Manawat?)
William Martin (Chiefs, Waikato)
Xavi Taele (Blues, Auckland)

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Non-Travelling Reserves:
Logan Wallace (Hurricanes, Manawat?)
Nathaniel Pole (Blues, Auckland)
Riley Williams (Blues, Auckland)
Tai Cribb (Chiefs, Waikato)
Tofuka Paongo (Hurricanes, Wellington)

The final squad of 30 for the U20 World Rugby Championship in South Africa will be announced following the Rugby Championship Under 20 tournament.

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T
Tom 3 hours ago
Has 'narrow-mindedness' cost Ribbans and others their Lions chance?

I didn't say anything regarding whether I feel the eligibility rule is right or wrong, you've jumped to conclusions there…


The fact is the eligibility rule does exist and any English qualified player is aware when they sign a foreign contract that they're making themselves ineligible and less likely to be picked for the Lions. If Jack Willis and Dave Ribbans priority was playing for England and the Lions they wouldn't be playing in France. Whether they should be allowed to play for England or not isn't my point. Under the current rules they have chosen to make themselves ineligible so they can't have their cake and eat it while other players have taken lesser salaries to commit themselves to their dream of playing for England and the Lions. They have made their choices.


Besides, while it works for South Africa doesn't prove it will work for any other country. South Africa have an extraordinary talent pool of incredible rugby athletes which no other country can compete with. They sadly don't have the resources to keep hold of them so they've been forced into this system. If they had the wealth to keep all their players at home and were still playing in Super Rugby they might be even better… they could be worse. We can't know for sure but cherry picking the best country in the world with a sample size of 1 and extrapolating it to other nations with very different circumstances doesn't hold water. Again, not saying the eligibility rule is correct just that you can't assume scrapping it would benefit us simply because South Africa are world champions.

17 Go to comments
I
IkeaBoy 3 hours ago
How Leinster bullied the Bulls at Croke Park

Expert coaches exist across the land and the IRFU already funds plenty. Ulster own their academy and who owns Ulster?


If you go to school in the North and rugby/tag rugby isn’t even on the PE curriculum until 12/13 as opposed to 7 or 8 in Leinster, how is that the IRFU’s fault? Even then, it’s only certain schools in the North that will offer it. On what basis would they go up to the North (strictly speaking, another country in the eyes of some) and dictate their schools programme?


The ABs used to be light years ahead of the pack because their eventual test superstars had been playing structured, competitive rugby from an average age of 5/6! On top of kicking it around the yard from the age they could walk with their rugby mad parents and older siblings.


Have you somehow gotten the impression that the Leinster system is not working for Irish rugby? What is that based on? The SARU should just stop competing because despite their back to back RWC’s, all 4 of their URC teams aren’t contesting semi-finals every year?


A couple of mining towns basically provided a Welsh team in the 70’s that were unplayable. Queensland in the old Super 10 provided the spine of an Oz team that were the first to win multiple world cups and in the same decade. The ABs population density is well documented with 35% of the population living around one city.


Is England’s match day 23 equally represented by mid-counties players, tough as nails northerners, a couple from Cornwall, a pack of manc’s and a lone Geordie? Ever?

It’s cute they won’t relegate the Falcons but has a Geordie test player ever hit 50 caps?


It’s ok not to understand geography. It’s also ok not to understand sport. Not understanding the geography of sport is something different entirely.

266 Go to comments
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