Ainsworth-Cave leads England against New Zealand haka in Junior World Championship third-place play-off

England Under-20s captain Aiden Ainsworth-Cave will lead his side out against New Zealand in the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship third-place play-off at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, with regular skipper Connor Treacey ruled out through injury.

It is the first meeting between the two nations at Under-20 level since New Zealand beat England 64-17 at the same venue in the 2017 final — the last time the Baby Blacks lifted the trophy.

“It’s really exciting. There’s definitely a buzz around camp,” said Ainsworth-Cave. “When we did realise that we were going to be playing New Zealand, that was probably the first thing on everyone’s mind: we’re going to face the haka.”

“This isn’t a fixture that comes around that often at a 20s level. I think the last game was around 2016 or 2017. So just for that excitement, where we do get to challenge ourselves against one of the best teams in the southern hemisphere, is a really exciting challenge, which we’re all looking forward to.”

Ainsworth-Cave, a Northampton Saints lock who made his Premiership debut in the club’s Cup win over Harlequins in November, scored two tries in England’s 40-38 pool win over Argentina earlier in the tournament.

The 20-year-old identified New Zealand’s set piece as a key battleground, while insisting England’s forward pack are confident they can match them in that area.

“New Zealand are, in the history of rugby, seen as a really exciting, expansive team. I think they’ve shown that throughout this World Cup — a very good attacking game, a really powerful forward pack, exciting backs,” he said.

“Their set piece has been a weapon which they’ve gone to throughout this tournament. But on the flip side, we’re looking at that as a strength of ours as well. We see that as an area where we can go after them and impose ourselves as one of the most dominant packs in the world.”

England’s coaches addressed the significance of the haka early in the week’s preparation, underlining how rarely the fixture arises at junior level and the unique occasion it represents for the squad.