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Jono Gibbes' ‘do-or-die’ reaction to late, late New Zealand U20s win

Manumaua Letiu celebrates his New Zealand try (Photo by Nic Bothma/World Rugby)

Jono Gibbes was left beaming in the Danie Craven Stadium tunnel after New Zealand grabbed a heart-stopping 27-26 pool win over defending champions France at the World Rugby U20 Championship.

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The Baby Blacks trailed 0-11 at the break on Thursday following an opening period where they were heavily penalised on the penalty count, culminating in a yellow card for Andrew Smith.

Their second-half fightback had them in front 19-18 on 63 minutes and then 24-21 six minutes later following tries from Dylan Pledger and Manumaua Letiu which sandwiched a penalty kick in reply from Hugo Reus.

However, they looked set to be beaten by a sucker punch Mathis Ferte try on 74 minutes that was followed by the 78th-minute yellow card for Joshua Smith which reversed the penalty award that had Rico Simpson ready with his kicking tee before TMO review intervened.

The out-half did get his shot to win, though, in the 81st-minute but he and his teammates were made to wait for TMO confirmation that the ball had indeed curled inside the right-hand upright and the score could be awarded.

Penalties

13
Penalties Conceded
15
1
Yellow Cards
2
0
Red Cards
0

Head coach Gibbes insisted he knew in real time the kick was good without the need for a review. “Yes,” he told RugbyPass when asked if he was certain from the beginning that Simpson’s kick had hit the target.

“It’s a funny angle, I’ll give them [the officials] the benefit of the doubt. But it was pretty clear cut from where we were; we were on the angle so we had a better vantage point.”

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Victory has left New Zealand in control at the top of Pool A with 10 points from their two wins and they will be expected to clinch the group with another five-point performance versus Spain next Tuesday back in Stellenbosch.

Success would secure a first semi-final since 2018 for the country that has the most U20 Championship titles (six) but none since 2017.

Their tenacity to fight back versus France on this occasion was in sharp contrast with a year ago in Paarl when the Clark Laidlaw class of 2023 lost 14-35 to the same opposition and went to finish in a record low seventh position.

“It was an important game. The format of the pools is a bit complicated to get out as the best runner-up looking at the other pools, so it was a bit of a do-or-die for us. We felt like that, so there was some really good reward for effort today,” reckoned Gibbes.

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“There was a couple of really key moments. Obviously the goal kick at the end is massive but you can see in the emotion of the players that it’s a squad effort. They are so happy for the investment they have put in and I have to take my hat off to the staff, my coaching group, they have just done an awesome job with these guys.

“It was a pretty tough watch, especially that last 10 minutes. It just felt like we were one movement away from just breaking them down completely but they showed their real championship quality. They hung right in there and it was a great clutch kick by Rico in the last minute.”

What left New Zealand stalled in the blocks and held scoreless during the opening half? “We just had absolutely no possession, it felt like, in that first half. The first 20 minutes of the game was pretty much played in our own 30-metre zone. We just couldn’t put them under any sort of pressure.

“They had a pretty cruisy ride for that first 40 minutes, so we just talked about working hard without the ball, our carry and clear skills and basics and try and hold on to the ball. It sort of swung.

“It was an 11-2 penalty count in the first half so felt that that was going to swing, absolutely, the human side of refereeing. We have away a silly penalty straight away but ultimately the penalty count swung back a little more evenly and we got field position.”

Despite being two wins from two, New Zealand, with a points difference of +8, are behind the top-ranked England who also have 10 points in Pool C but have a points difference of +56.

However, with New Zealand expected to run up a big victory margin against the Spanish minnows, they could yet be ranked number one heading into the semi-finals.

England’s final pool match is against South Africa, the hosts who need to win and have other results go their way if they are to maintain a run of qualifying for the semi-finals in every Championship since 2011.

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Comments

3 Comments
J
J Marc 138 days ago

France need to win with a bonus point but it could be the semi.

B
Blair 138 days ago

If the baby blacks do end up finishing top after putting on a show against the Spanish, does that mean France is their likely semi-final opponent?

Seems like a weird format if that is a possibility

D
David 138 days ago

Jonno Gibbes yet another Chiefs region coach heading up the ranks. And with overseas experience!
So far - off the top of my head:
D Rennie, W Gatland, V Cotter, W Smith, Joe Schmidt, J Gibbes, C McMillan, the Great Fozzie, and some bloke called Razor - from Tauranga?

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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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