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‘These men have never come up against forwards that are 150kgs’

(Photo by World Rugby via Getty Images)

This wasn’t supposed to be how it turned out for New Zealand at the Junior World Championship, Clark Laidlaw’s U20s left nursing a painful 14-35 game two defeat to France that has left them in need of a favor elsewhere next Tuesday if they are to ultimately make the semi-finals.

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The Baby Blacks are the competition’s most titled team, winning six of its dozen editions. However, quite a leap of faith is now required to believe that this class of 2023 can somehow still get out of their pool stage jail and make the play-offs.

Having struggled in the opening half versus Wales last Saturday, trailing 5-19 before hitting back to win 27-26, the expectation was that a lesson would have been learned about slow starts.

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It wasn’t, as New Zealand were behind 0-21 at the break on Thursday in Paarl and it was only after the concession of the bonus point fourth try to the French that they finally raised a gallop.

They scored two converted tries to halve the 28-point margin, but they conceded soon after to quickly quash the notion that a comeback was on and it left head coach Laidlaw ruminating about the size differential between the two packs.

“Ultimately it is a really disappointing day and loads of lessons,” he told RugbyPass in the aftermath, the rain cascading down as he spoke outside the marquee that was the New Zealand dressing room. “I said last week we were here to learn.

“We want to win, let’s never forget that, but these men have never come up against forwards that are 150kgs and two or three of them all in the same forward pack, so we have got to learn how we deal with that.

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“I thought our scrum was outstanding. That was a real big plus that we can scrum, but we have got maul, we have got to (be better at the) breakdown; we have got to get those parts right too.

“They [France] scored the tries and their weight and their physicality when they got in the 22 caused us problems. It was only a couple of times defensively where we didn’t get them on the ground and they were able to get massive gainline and quick ball. That is their game and I guess the scoreline is always a reflection really.”

Particularly wounding was New Zealand’s failure to score in the first half. “It was disappointing to go three tries down. It’s fine margins. At 7-0, we had a couple of opportunities in the 22 that we didn’t take. We had chances near half-time – we didn’t take one of those and that can be the difference.

“You saw in the second half when we got the ball we were able to put it in space and we caused them a lot of problems. They were really short in defence, they went down taking cramp a lot, so maybe the conditions didn’t play into our favour, but we were disappointed with that first half.

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“There was lots of endeavour. I thought for large parts we defended really well and when we could get the ball to space I thought we looked dangerous, but ultimately in conditions like this against a team with a huge forward pack, the sort of weight at times wore us down and we couldn’t get the field position or the territory with the possession.

“In that first half we were pinned in our own third, so it was a really mixed performance. I thought France first half were pretty clinical and put us under a lot of pressure through their forward play and those big bodies.”

New Zealand will complete their pool with a match versus Rob Penney’s winless Japan. They will be expected to win with a bonus and shift their points total to 10, which would be good enough for second place in their pool behind France, but with just one best runner-up progressing to the semi-finals along with the three pool winners, they would need a major favour elsewhere to secure their progress.

“It’s not in our hands now,” accepted Laidlaw. “We will dust ourselves off and get a look at the results around the competition… If it becomes an option and points difference is still there, then we have got to go after it.”

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Comments

27 Comments
P
Pecos 492 days ago

Comments extrapolating this tourney to adult test matches are stupid. This is an annual comp for kids, some who are bigger & more developed than others. Very hit & miss though France has won the last two tourneys (pre covid last played in 2019?) by sending forwards monsters. So what imo? Tests on the other hand are the real deal. No comparison.

F
Ferell 493 days ago

This is exactly
what the French plan to do in the world cup with the All Blacks.....

P
Paul 493 days ago

Something that wasn't pointed out : almost all of the baby blues use to play in the Top 14 agaisnt huge players with a lot of physicality.

J
Jeremy 493 days ago

The conditions also played their part and have really suited the bigger teams too.

D
Driss 493 days ago

The nz rugby problems began when Mark Robinson has been appointed like president : he choised foster and again rep pointed in 2022, U20 not considered, local rugby…
Now end of year , mark Robinson and the panel must go.
A guy with experience must be the NZRU president.

p
peter 493 days ago

And to think he will be the next Hurricanes coach

R
Richard 494 days ago

Some simple lessons on defence I would have thought. Take big men around their ankles for a starter! Several times they needed to spread the ball faster and further and our kicking needed to be a bit smarter - some good lessons overall however.

A
Andrew 494 days ago

"We are here to learn" This is what sides coming to NZ used to say after yet another defeat to the ABs. Now an NZ coach is saying it....

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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