2019 under 20's
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@Stargazer Reihanas from Whangarei, Fihaki born n bred Aucklander
@Nogusta Thanks, yes, I used the wrong examples. Reihana went to Huanui College before going to St Kent's. I was put on the wrong foot by the fact that he was in the Chiefs' U18 squad. Somehow that made me think he went to Hamilton Boys haha. Did you know that Chay Fihaki is the cousin of Albert Tuisue and Ben Volavola (Flying Fijians)?
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@Stargazer That's why I'm glad the Auckland schools took a stand against St Kents and to a lesser extent Kings as we weren't even seeing a lot of these kids come through the Auckland system. Hopefully more kids stay with their schools now instead of just coming up to Auckland to play rugby before returning to their provinces.
@African-Monkey yea it must grate Auckland and the Blues when players are brought to Auckland to play 1A, take a spot in the Blues 17s and 18s programmes, make NZ Schools/Baabaas then go back to their province or other ones. There may be others but Zarn Sullivan is the only one I can think of who has bucked the trend and stayed in Auckland.
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@African-Monkey yea it must grate Auckland and the Blues when players are brought to Auckland to play 1A, take a spot in the Blues 17s and 18s programmes, make NZ Schools/Baabaas then go back to their province or other ones. There may be others but Zarn Sullivan is the only one I can think of who has bucked the trend and stayed in Auckland.
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@Chris-B I can understand Wellington not having reps in the starting XV. The last few years, Hawke's Bay school teams have been kicking Wellington schools' asses in the Hurricanes competition. By the way, Billy Proctor wasn't released by the Hurricanes. The large number of Canterbury and Bay of Plenty players can probably be explained by the U19s tournament last year, which BoP won and Canterbury were runners-up.
Another thing I've noticed is that a few of the boys that were selected for the NZ Schools teams from Auckland schools the last few years, are now listed as coming from other provinces. Examples: Rivez Reihana (St Kent's - now Waikato), Chay Fihaki (Sacred Heart - Canterbury), Isaiah Punivai (St Kent's - Canterbury) etc. These players have returned to their home provinces. Auckland schools' poaching doesn't help Auckland rugby being represented in NZ U20s, it seems.
Haven't watched the game yet, so not commenting on the game, except for THAT IS A SHIT RESULT!!
@Stargazer do players from Hawkes Bay even make Super Rugby level, let alone Under 20s?
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@African-Monkey yea it must grate Auckland and the Blues when players are brought to Auckland to play 1A, take a spot in the Blues 17s and 18s programmes, make NZ Schools/Baabaas then go back to their province or other ones. There may be others but Zarn Sullivan is the only one I can think of who has bucked the trend and stayed in Auckland.
@Nogusta Yes that did suprise me him staying in Auckland (for now). He looks a good player from what I've seen. Nice left boot and a good running game. Not saying he'll get anywhere near the same level as the greatest 10 we've ever had but he plays a similar style to Dan Carter.
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@mimic he’s from bay of plenty but schooled in Auckland
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@Nogusta Yes that did suprise me him staying in Auckland (for now). He looks a good player from what I've seen. Nice left boot and a good running game. Not saying he'll get anywhere near the same level as the greatest 10 we've ever had but he plays a similar style to Dan Carter.
@African-Monkey he's been a standout in the Auckland club comp for College Rifles. He may end up taking over the starting 10 spot in the M10 side.
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@Stargazer do players from Hawkes Bay even make Super Rugby level, let alone Under 20s?
@Canes4life Not sure who you are referring to, but I was referring to Bailyn Sullivan, who plays for the Chiefs.
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Looks like all squads have been chosen
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No Toala
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Still not impressed with the pack! Need to perform a hell of a lot better
@allblacksfan72 said in 2019 under 20's:
Still not impressed with the pack! Need to perform a hell of a lot better
We are in a pool with Georgia, Scotland and South Africa. Our forward pack will certainly be taken on and tested,
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Don't think we are winning with that squad. Sheesh.
@Canes4life said in 2019 under 20's:
Don't think we are winning with that squad. Sheesh.
Yeah, doesn't look like a squad from which endless bounty will come. Certainly not after that disgrace against the Oz U20. Hopefully most of the Australian team is full of outspoken Christians...
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With his 1.97 m, Vai'i is the tallest man in the pack. His partner in the second row (Cullen Grace) has the same size as Blackwell (1.90 m, 106 kg).
Hopefully they will play Tamaiti Williams in his preferred position, which is loose head prop. He was outplayed against the Junior Wallabies while placed on the tight head. He is a good prop and had a commanding performance last year for the NZ schoolboys vs Australia.
Is Toala injured ? If not, his absence would be beyond any understanding. -
Looks like all squads have been chosen
@Wurzel pretty sure that won't be the official or final squad that lands in Argentina. All teams have to submit a squad list by a certain date, not necessarily THE official team list. I'd wait until the official announcement from NZRFU, probably in the next day or so.
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Squad officially named
http://www.allblacks.com/News/34093/nz-under-20-squad-named-for-world-rugby-championship
Forwards: Kaylum Boshier (Taranaki) – Vice-Captain George Dyer (Waikato) Samipeni Finau (Waikato) Devan Flanders (Hawke's Bay) Cullen Grace (Canterbury) Kohan Herbert (Bay of Plenty) Kianu Kereru Symes (Hawke's Bay) - Captain Shilo Klein (Canterbury) Jeriah Mua (Bay of Plenty) Fletcher Newell (Canterbury) Ollie Norris (Waikato) Simon Parker (Waikato) Taine Plumtree (Wellington) Kaliopasi Uluilakepa (Wellington) Tupou Vaa’i (Taranaki) Tamaiti Williams (Canterbury) Backs: Fergus Burke (Canterbury) Leroy Carter (Bay of Plenty) Leicester Faingaanuku ( Ta$man/Crusaders) Cole Forbes (Bay of Plenty) Taufa Funaki (Auckland) Scott Gregory (Northland/All Blacks Sevens) Lalomilo Lalomilo (Bay of Plenty) Dallas McLeod (Canterbury) – Vice-Captain Billy Proctor (Wellington/Hurricanes) Rivez Reihana (Waikato) Etene Nanai-Seturo (Counties Manukau/Chiefs) Quinn Tupaea (Waikato) -
With his 1.97 m, Vai'i is the tallest man in the pack. His partner in the second row (Cullen Grace) has the same size as Blackwell (1.90 m, 106 kg).
Hopefully they will play Tamaiti Williams in his preferred position, which is loose head prop. He was outplayed against the Junior Wallabies while placed on the tight head. He is a good prop and had a commanding performance last year for the NZ schoolboys vs Australia.
Is Toala injured ? If not, his absence would be beyond any understanding.@cgrant said in 2019 under 20's:
With his 1.97 m, Vai'i is the tallest man in the pack. His partner in the second row (Cullen Grace) has the same size as Blackwell (1.90 m, 106 kg).
Hopefully they will play Tamaiti Williams in his preferred position, which is loose head prop. He was outplayed against the Junior Wallabies while placed on the tight head. He is a good prop and had a commanding performance last year for the NZ schoolboys vs Australia.
Is Toala injured ? If not, his absence would be beyond any understanding.Did Cantabrians on the forum talk up Cullen Grace as really promising? I take it as a loosie though? rather than lock? Or was he big enough to lock as schoolboy/jinior level where the forumers had seen him previously? Assume his future is as a loosie moving forward though, or we write off that height as 'typically accurate' official measurement ....
