Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Under-23 squads: Super Rugby vs Premiership vs PRO14 vs Top 14

Jordie Barrett of the Hurricanes gets in at full-back on the RugbyPass Super Rugby Under-23s team (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Following on from the RugbyPass look at the club-by-club strength of the under-23s in the Gallagher Premiership, Guinness PRO14 and Super Rugby, we finish up the series by comparing the strengths of the three competitions as a whole, as well as the Top 14.

ADVERTISEMENT

Super Rugby, with its heavy focus on the development of homegrown players rather than recruitment, understandably comes out well, as does the PRO14 where the pick of talent from four of the five participating nations ply their trade.

Both the Premiership and Top 14 squads also look packed with talent, despite the heavy recruitment of senior players from abroad that goes on in both competitions.

Take a look at the RugbyPass XVs below and see which one stands out for you…

SUPER RUGBY

Jordie Barrett; Sevu Reece, Braydon Ennor, Damian Willemse, Rieko Ioane; Curwin Bosch, Embrose Papier; Mayco Vivas, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Taniela Tupou, Jason Jenkins, Marcos Kremer, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, Jean-Luc du Preez.

The back line leans heavily on the resources of the New Zealand franchises, with the likes of Will Jordan, Bautista Delguy, Jack Maddocks and Sbu Nkosi just missing out. Josh Ioane was another option at fly-half, while Blues centres TJ Faiane and Taniela Tele’a would have been in the mix were it not for talents of Ennor and Willemse.

Tongan Thor keeps out Tyrell Lomax at tighthead, whilst second rows Isaia Walker-Leawere and Izack Rodda were both close in an engine room that could have seen any combination of the four feature.

The back row, however, was where the real strength of the competition showed through, with Du’Plessis Kirifi, Marco van Staden, Jaco Coetzee, Liam Wright and Dan du Preez just some of the players worthy of mention that couldn’t crack the starting three.

ADVERTISEMENT

GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP

Max Malins; Joe Cokanasiga, Joe Marchant, Ollie Lawrence, Ollie Thorley; Marcus Smith, Jack Maunder; Rhys Carre, Jack Walker, Ehren Painter, Nick Isiekwe, Joel Kpoku, Sam Underhill, Tom Curry, Zach Mercer.

An understandably English-oriented XV, Italian internationals Jake Polledri and Matteo Minozzi were not far off while England cap Ted Hill was similarly close. Hill, like Ben Earl, Ben Curry, Jack Willis, Alex Dombrandt, James Chisholm and Lewis Ludlam, just missed out due to the strength of young back rowers in the Premiership at the current time.

Exeter’s Joe Simmonds, Northampton’s Rory Hutchinson and James Grayson, Bristol’s Piers O’Conor and Sale’s Cam Redpath show the quality of playmakers in the competition despite not making the XV.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wings are also in abundance with Gabriel Ibitoye, Ben Loader and Jordan Olowofela in the mix. Being drawn largely from one nation, rather than four or five, the Premiership understandably can’t offer up the same number of internationals as the Super Rugby or PRO14 sides.

GUINNESS PRO14

Blair Kinghorn; Jordan Larmour, Sam Arnold, Marco Zanon, Jacob Stockdale; Adam Hastings, Craig Casey; Ox Nche, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Marco Riccioni, Scott Cummings, James Ryan, Jamie Ritchie, Aaron Wainwright, Max Deegan.

One of the most striking things about the PRO14 is the number of talented young tightheads floating about, with Riccioni keeping out Zander Fagerson, Leon Brown, Andrew Porter and Tom O’Toole, with four of those five senior internationals.

The back row depth is also strong, with Magnus Bradbury, Junior Pokomela, Giovanni Licata and Taine Basham on the cusp.

Scrum-half aside, it’s an all-international back line, with further capped options like Joey Carbery, Owen Watkin, Luca Sperandio and Tyler Morgan also in the conversation.

If there is one drawback in comparison to the other XVs on show, it is arguably a lack of fly-half depth below Hastings and Carbery, with Benetton No10 Antonio Rizzi the next man up. It’s not quite the quantity of proven operators that there are in the other three competitions.

TOP 14

Thomas Ramos; Gervais Cordin, Damian Penaud, Romain Ntamack, Gabriel N’Gandebe; Anthony Belleau, Antoine Dupont; Guram Gogichashvili, Pierre Bourgarit, Demba Bamba, Florian Verhaeghe, Florent Vanverberghe, Judicaël Cancoriet, Cameron Woki, Jordan Joseph.

Leaning heavily on the two recent World Rugby Under-20 Championship-winning sides, there is clearly no lack of talent waiting in the wings for Les Bleus.

The likes of Bourgarit and Bamba up front have been capped. The same is true of Gogichashvili for Georgia, with Teddy Baubigny in the mix as well as Selevasio Tolofua and Anthony Jelonch behind a very talented starting back row.

Without doubt, though, the strength of the competition is in the half-backs, where Dupont and Belleau hold off the challenges of a cohort of players.

Baptiste Couilloud, Arthur Retiere and Arthur Coville are all bona fide options at scrum-half, while Mathieu Jalibert, Louis Carbonel and Thomas Darmon offer a similar level of depth at fly-half.

WATCH: Part one of The Academy, the six-part RugbyPassdocumentary series on how Leicester Tigers develop their young players

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

Boks Office | Episode 41 | Investec Champions Cup final preview

Hong Kong China vs Kazakhstan | Asia Rugby Emirates Women's Championship | Match Highlights

Kubota Spears vs Tokyo Sungoliath | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Quarter Final Replay

Australia vs USA | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

New Zealand vs Canada | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

South Africa vs New Zealand | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

Argentina vs Australia | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

The gruelling reality behind one of the fastest sports in the world | The Report

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
Solenn Bonnet 11 days ago
Leinster cleanse palette with record URC scoreline against Zebre

My name is Solenn Bonnet, and I am a single mother navigating the challenges of raising my two-year-old child while trying to make ends meet. I came across a trading platform that promised astonishing daily profits of 18%. The allure of such a high return on investment was too tempting to resist, and I found myself drawn into cryptocurrency trading. Excited by the prospect of financial freedom, I invested a significant amount of my savings, totaling over 5.7 BTC. However, what started as a hopeful venture quickly turned into a nightmare. The platform was a scam, and I lost everything I had invested. The emotional toll of this loss was immense; I felt devastated and helpless, struggling to provide for my child and keep up with my bills. In my desperate attempt to recover my funds, I sought help from various recovery experts. Unfortunately, I encountered numerous fraudulent individuals who claimed they could help me retrieve my lost money. Each time I reached out, I was met with disappointment and further scams, which only deepened my despair. Last year was one of the most challenging periods of my life, filled with anxiety and uncertainty about my financial future. Feeling overwhelmed and at a loss, I confided in a close friend from church about my situation. She listened compassionately and shared her own experiences with financial difficulties. Understanding my plight, she introduced me to Tech Cyber Force Recovery, a group of skilled hackers known for their expertise in recovering lost funds. Skeptical yet hopeful, I decided to reach out to them as a last resort. Their services came at a higher cost, but my friend generously offered to help me with a partial payment. I was amazed by how quickly they responded and began the recovery process. Their team was professional, efficient, and incredibly supportive throughout the entire ordeal. To my relief, they successfully recovered more than I had lost to those heartless scammers. This was truly transformative, and I felt a sense of relief and gratitude that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I strongly encourage anyone who has faced similar challenges or fallen victim to scams to reach out to Tech Cyber Force Recovery. If you’ve invested in a fraudulent platform like I did, they are highly capable of helping you reclaim your hard-earned money. Don’t lose hope; there is a way to recover what you’ve lost.

CONSULT TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY

EMAIL.. support@techyforcecyberretrieval.com

WhatsApp.. +15617263697

website.. https://techyforcecyberretrieval.com

Telegram.. +15617263697

0 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Fissler Confidential: The latest England international to snub Leicester Tigers Fissler Confidential: The latest England international to snub Tigers
Search