New Zealand under-20s undone by scrum as long wait for another world championship continues

Tuesday, 14 July 2026

ANALYSIS: The New Zealand under-20s would be preparing for a final against South Africa at the World Rugby junior world championship if they had a better scrum.

Instead, they are dealing with the heartbreak of a 26-22 loss overnight on Tuesday, NZ time, despite playing the game with 14 men for 20 minutes (two yellow cards) and looking like the better team in many areas of the contest.

They conceded a late try to France in hot conditions in Georgia, but the game would have been put to bed earlier if they had enjoyed even parity at scrum time.

The issues came on the tighthead side, where Otago’s Ethan Webber and Taranaki’s Dane Johnston both struggled.

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The young Kiwis conceded multiple penalties, some on their own ball.

Their difficulties were understandable and predictable given the chalk-and-cheese approach New Zealand and France take to player development.

Many of the French under-20s players have already played in their Top 14 competition, having come through their well-resourced academy system.

Webber and Johnston aren’t even fully contracted at provincial level, and it could be at least a year before they play in the NPC.

As far as Super Rugby is concerned, they might not play at that level until they are 23 or 24 years old.

That’s deliberate strategy by NZ Rugby. It takes the long-term view with players, especially in the tight five, and the under-20s are now without a junior world championship win since 2017.

It’s also debatable whether Webber is even a tighthead prop in the first place. He started the Dunedin club rugby season as a loosehead prop for Taieri and stayed there for the Rugby Championship under-20s competition in South Africa in April-May.

By contrast, New Zealand under-20s No 1 Henry Stuart first caught the eye as a tighthead prop for King’s High School in Dunedin in First XV rugby last year.

It’s a big ask to have two starting props switch sides and compete against a Six Nations powerhouse such as France at scrum time.

Ironically, both Webber and Stuart scored tries against France, with Stuart in particular impressing with his ball carrying.

While yellow cards to lock Max Fale and No 7 Caleb Woodley took some petrol out of the tank, there were also some standouts for New Zealand.

Auckland’s Cohen Norrie is a beautifully balanced runner at fullback, while big No 6 Bradley Tocker, who has already showed his ability for the NZ Sevens team, looks like a special athlete in a jersey that the All Blacks have struggled to fill.

Tocker is tall and lean, but he has real speed and rarely loses a collision. He is very much one to watch in the coming years.

But, as with the props, Tocker will have to bide his time. Taranaki announced on Monday that he is on a development contract, so he won’t play any NPC rugby this year unless there are injuries.

New Zealand still has talent, but the relative lack of success at the under-20s level over the past decade show that France and South Africa now have development programs that expose their players to full professionalism at a younger age.