New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team explained

Country:New Zealand
Union:New Zealand Rugby
Nickname:Baby Blacks
Coach:Jono Gibbes
Top Scorer:Trent Renata (59)
Most Tries:Zac Guildford and Tevita Li (8)
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First: New Zealand 48–9 Tonga
(6 June 2008; Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff)
Bigwin: New Zealand 92–0 Wales
(14 June 2011; Rugby Rovigo Delta, Rovigo)
Bigloss: Australia 24–0 New Zealand
(5 May 2019; Bond Sports Park, Gold Coast)
World Cup Apps:14 (First in 2008)
Best:Champions (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017)

The New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team, nicknamed the Baby Blacks, is the representative rugby union team from New Zealand. It replaced the two former age grade teams, the under-19s and the under-21s. Their first tournament was the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship, which they won after defeating England (38–3) in the final.[1] They have gone on to also win the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2017. The New Zealand under-20s have been nicknamed the "Baby Blacks" after the youthful All Blacks side which played in 1986.

Overall

Summary of all matches played by the New Zealand Under-20s as of 19 July 2024

World Rugby U20 Championship record

YearRoundPosition
2008Champions1st550024228
2009Champions1st550021554
2010Champions1st550026252
2011Champions1st550027451
2012Runners-up2nd530214849
2013Semi-finals4th5302159116
2014Semi-finals3rd5302196107
2015Champions1st550019163
20165th place5th540122386
2017Champions1st550028292
2018Semi-finals4th530217384
20197th place7th530216196
20237th place7th5302188150
2024Semi-finals3rd5401182152
Total 14/14 6 titles 70 56 0 14 2,896 1,180

Oceania Rugby U20 Championship record

YearRoundPosition
2015Champions1st330015743
2016Champions1st21015435
2017Champions1st330018632
2018Champions1st330019543
2019Runners-up2nd320114043
2022Champions1st330017526
Total 6/6 5 titles 17 15 0 2 907 222

U20 Rugby Championship record

Players

Recent squads

2024

On 10 April 2024, Head Coach Jono Gibbes announced the squad for the inaugural U20 Rugby Championship in Australia.[2]

PlayerPositionRegion/Province
Vernon BasonHooker,
Manumaua LetiuHooker,
Hooker,
Kurene LuamanuvaeProp,
Will MartinProp,
Konradd NewlandProp,
Sika PoleProp,
Joshua SmithProp,
Tom AllenLock,
Cam ChristieLock,
Liam JackLock,
Jeremiah Avei-CollinsFlanker,
Tristyn CookFlanker,
Matt LoweFlanker,
Andrew SmithFlanker,
Mosese BasonNumber 8,
Jonathan LeeNumber 8,
Malachi Wrampling-AlecNumber 8,
Ben O'DonovanHalfback,
Dylan PledgerHalfback,
Cooper GrantFirst five-eighth,
Rico SimpsonFirst five-eighth,
Toby BellMidfield back,
Tofuka PaongoMidfield back,
Xavi TaeleMidfield back,
Giancarlo TuivailalaMidfield back,
Josh WhaangaMidfield back,
King MaxwellWing,
Stanley SolomonWing,
Frank VaenukuWing,
Sam ColesFullback,
Isaac HutchinsonFullback,

Non-travelling reserves named were:

After winning the inaugural U20 Rugby Championship title, Jono Gibbes named the squad for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship on 31 May 2024.[4]

PlayerPositionRegion/Province
Vernon BasonHooker,
Manumaua LetiuHooker,
Hooker,
Kurene LuamanuvaeProp,
Will MartinProp,
Sika PoleProp,
Senio SaneleProp,
Joshua SmithProp,
Logan WallaceProp,
Tom AllenLock,
Cam ChristieLock,
Liam JackLock,
Tai CribbLock/Flanker,
Jeremiah Avei-CollinsFlanker,
Matt LoweFlanker,
Andrew SmithFlanker,
Mosese BasonNumber 8,
Jonathan LeeNumber 8,
Malachi Wrampling-AlecNumber 8,
Ben O'DonovanHalfback,
Dylan PledgerHalfback,
Riley WilliamsHalfback,
Cooper GrantFirst five-eighth,
Rico SimpsonFirst five-eighth,
Xavi TaeleMidfield back,
Giancarlo TuivailalaMidfield back,
King MaxwellWing,
Stanley SolomonWing,
Frank VaenukuWing,
Xavier Tito-HarrisWing/Fullback,
Sam ColesFullback,
Isaac HutchinsonFullback,

Non-travelling reserves:

Award winners

The following New Zealand U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[6]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
width=40Yearwidth=160Nomineeswidth=160Winners
align=center rowspan=22008Luke Braidalign=center rowspan=2Luke Braid
Chris Smith
align=center rowspan=22009Aaron Crudenalign=center rowspan=2Aaron Cruden
Winston Stanley
align=center rowspan=22010Tyler Bleyendaalalign=center rowspan=2Julian Savea
Julian Savea
align=center rowspan=22011Sam Canealign=center rowspan=9—
Luke Whitelock
2013Ardie Savea
2014Tevita Li
align=center rowspan=22015Akira Ioane
Tevita Li (2)
2016Shaun Stevenson
align=center rowspan=22017Tiaan Falcon
Will Jordan

Coaches

Due to the U20 category only existing since the combining of the U19 and U21 age groups in 2007, the following table only includes coaches appointed since. In the inaugural tournament in 2008, Dave Rennie and Russell Hilton-Jones served as co-coaches in charge of the team. Craig Philpott is the longest serving coach. As of 2024, the current Head Coach is Jono Gibbes.

Updated to: 19 July 2024

CoachTenurewidth=55pxwidth=55pxwidth=55pxwidth=55pxwidth=55px
Dave Rennie20085500100%
Russell Hilton-Jones20085500100%
Dave Rennie2009–2010101000100%
Mark Anscombe20115500100%
Rob Penney2012530260%
Chris Boyd2013–20141060460%
Scott Robertson2015–201615140193%
Craig Philpott2017–201924190579%
Tom Donnelly20223300100%
Clark Laidlaw2023740357%
Jono Gibbes2024–861181%

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Final: New Zealand 38–3 England . irb.com . 22 July 2008 . Clutton . Graham . https://web.archive.org/web/20140424162038/http://www.irb.com/jwc/news/newsid=2025684.html . 24 April 2014 . dead .
  2. Web site: Rising stars named in New Zealand Under 20 Rugby Championship squad. allblacks.com. 10 April 2024. 4 May 2024.
  3. New Zealand U20 team named to play Argentina. allblacks.com. 6 May 2024. 29 June 2024.
  4. New Zealand Under 20 squad named for World Rugby U20 Championship. New Zealand Rugby. 31 May 2024. 29 June 2024.
  5. nzrugbyofficial . C8Q-8ZGOgsF . 16 June 2024 . Mosese Bason and Senio Sanele come into the New Zealand U20 squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship in Cape Town . 30 June 2024.
  6. News: Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby . www.world.rugby . 16 March 2024 . en.

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