Backrower Wallace Sititi has capped off a breakout year in style, being crowned the All Blacks’ best player at the ASB Rugby Awards.
New Zealand's ASB Rugby Awards were held on Thursday night and rewarded the country's best performers of 2024.
The top 50 prospects under 23 years of age currently plying their trade in New Zealand features three capped All Blacks already.
England flew out of South Africa last Saturday evening to Heathrow as the rightful champions, the consistency of their potent scrum and manipulative defence helping them to a deserved first title since 2016.
Both teams were soundly beaten in the semi-finals, New Zealand swatted aside 55-31 by French flair while Ireland were depowered 31-20 by a physical England who especially bullied their scrum.
France versus New Zealand was a spicy rematch last Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship. The French, the defending three-in-a-row champions from 2018, 2019 and 2023, hadn’t liked it one bit that they were pipped by the Baby Blacks in a pool game 10 days earlier in Stellenbosch.
It's semi-finals Sunday at the World Rugby U20 Championship and following last Tuesday’s weather-affected schedule, the hope will be that all six matches will be played to an 80-minute conclusion unlike on match day three when there were just four and a half matches completed due to the heavy rain making pitches unplayable.
Super Rugby may have diminished in fan interest in recent years, but that hasn't stopped it churning out talent... check out the RugbyPass Super Rugby Under-23 squads.