Georgia stun New Zealand U20s in warm-up as Junior World Championship looms

Georgia defeated New Zealand U20s 22-19 in a four-quarter warm-up match ahead of this week’s World Rugby Junior Championship, with neither side wearing numbers and rolling substitutions in play throughout. New Zealand coach Kane Jury was candid about his priorities, making clear the result was secondary to testing new combinations before the tournament begins.

“For me, it was important we had a hitout,” Jury said. “It was important that we knew where our game stood and how our new players fit into it. We know how good we are and where we want to.”

The result capped a patchy lead-in for New Zealand, whose Under-20 Rugby Championship campaign at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, South Africa, produced mixed returns. Auckland fullback Cohen Norrie was a standout, scoring two tries as New Zealand recovered from a 24-14 deficit to beat Australia 34-29, with three of their tries coming while the Wallabies were reduced to fewer players, including two against 13 men.

Argentina proved a sterner test, suffocating New Zealand 25-17 in an error-strewn performance that Jury’s squad will be eager to put behind them. A 29-29 draw against world champions South Africa offered more encouragement. Trailing 29-22 with a man in the bin in the 77th minute, New Zealand created an overlap that South African winger Jack Benade attempted to intercept — his deliberate knock-on earned the visitors a penalty try and salvaged a share of the points.

Discipline was a recurring issue across the TRC, with Siale Pahulu sent off against South Africa and Ethan Webber and Jake Frost yellow-carded against Argentina. Jury acknowledged the challenge of playing under constant video surveillance, where incidents from several minutes earlier can still be punished, but urged his squad to focus only on what comes next.

“Whatever we’ve done, it’s done, it’s put away, we can’t influence it. But what we can influence is the next moment,” Jury said. “We’ve worked hard with John Quinn, our performance and mental skills coach, around breathing, visualisation, and being world-class in the next moment.”

Captain Haki Wiseman echoed that forward-looking tone, pointing to the squad’s growing cohesion as the key gain from three weeks together. “We’ve got eight new guys in the team and a couple of Sevens boys who have added their international experience,” Wiseman said. “The boys are pushing each other and getting the best out of each other.”

New Zealand open their Junior World Championship campaign against Japan U20s.