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Getting to know: New Zealand U20s lock Liam Jack

New Zealand players, including Liam Jack (third from left) sing their national anthem in South Africa (Photo by Thinus Maritz/World Rugby)

When it comes to good genes in the New Zealand team at the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa, look no further than second row Liam Jack. Graham Jack, the lanky lock’s father, was a 1998 Super Rugby champion playing in the Crusaders engine room.

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Meanwhile, uncle Chris Jack was a 67-cap All Black in the same position, as well as a multi-title winner for the Christchurch-based franchise before finishing up his career with two seasons at Saracens following his country’s 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final elimination.

The Baby Blacks’ class of 2024 arrived in Cape Town having recently won the inaugural age-grade Rugby Championship that was held on the Australian Gold Coast with a view to having their teams battle-hardened to better challenge their Six Nations rivals.

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HITS, BUMPS AND HANDOFFS! | The biggest collisions from the U20s World Championships

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HITS, BUMPS AND HANDOFFS! | The biggest collisions from the U20s World Championships

Just one southern hemisphere team – South Africa – reached the semi-finals last year along with France, Ireland and England, and that three-one split has been repeated this year, the only change being New Zealand replacing the Junior Boks in the last four.

New Zealand, who face France in Sunday’s semi-finals, dramatically defeated the French 27-26 in a July 4 pool match in Stellenbosch and ahead of their rematch at the Stormers’ iconic stadium in Cape Town, Jack has tacked the RugbyPass Getting to Know Q&A.

Fixture
World Rugby U20 Championship
New Zealand U20
31 - 55
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France U20
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Amongst his replies were Sam Whitelock, Zach Bryan and Eben Etzebeth. Read on to learn why:

THE BASICS
Born: August 22, 2004;
Joined New Zealand age-grade: Schools when I was 18, against Fiji in ’22;
Club: Canterbury, Crusaders academy;
Height: 6ft 6;
Weight: 110kgs;
Position: Lock;
Boots: Adidas RS15;
Gumshield: Just the white normal ones, the branded one that everyone has to wear;
Headgear: No;
School: Christ College.

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RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: 75;
Passing: 75;
Tackling: 90.

THE PAST
My favourite New Zealand player of all time is… Sam Whitelock;

Favourite try I have ever scored is… Rolling maul for Lincoln Rams;

A rugby memory that makes me smile is… Winning the Super Rugby U20s with the Crusaders this year;

The moment I realised I could make it is… Probably last year at school for Christ College. Good team, played a couple of good games, ended up making the New Zealand schools;

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One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… I would say don’t judge yourself, just do whatever you have to do;

My best subject in school was… Probably maths;

First player that made me fall in love with rugby was… Probably Sam Whitelock;

Growing up, my position was… Lock but tried a bit at No8. No8 came first, then got a bit taller;

The coach who has most impacted my game is… Probably my dad. He coached me as a kid, Graham Jack, when I first started U13s.

THE PRESENT
My best attributes on the field are… I work hard, win the set-piece, clean rucks;

One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… I’m doing a bachelor of architecture at Canterbury Ara;

My favourite current New Zealand player is… Probably Scott Barrett;

My hardest working teammate is… Probably Johnny Lee;

My most skilful teammate is… Probably Xavi Taele;

My favourite training drill is… Probably just lineouts;

My favourite music artist is… Probably Zach Bryan.

THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Probably Xavi Taele;

If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Probably Scott Barrett;

I will be happy with my career if I… Try my best the whole way through and gave everything I had;

One thing I want to add to my game is… Probably more size and power;

If I could play in any other country, I would play in… Probably France or Japan;

One person I want to meet is… Richie McCaw. Oh, I have met him actually. Eben Etzebeth would be interesting;

One trophy I would love to win is… The U20s World Cup.

  • Click here to sign up to RugbyPass TV for free live coverage of matches from the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship in countries that don’t have an exclusive local host broadcaster deal

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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