 |
| A blue All Black: Tuitupou in Super 12 colours |
 |
Not the only match on Sunday
The second International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-21 World Cup comes to an end on Sunday, with a new champion due to be crowned at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford when New Zealand and Australia meet at 16.15 local time (15.15 GMT). There are five other matches due to be played - at the three different venues - on the Final day.
New Zealand knocked defending champions South Africa out in the semi-finals, winning by 38-16 after trailing the young Bokkies by seven points down at half-time, while Australia hammered Argentina by 48-25 in the second semi-final to progress to the Final.
The young All Blacks took some time to get into their stride against the defending champions, but they showed wonderful composure and discipline to fight back against South Africans, eventually outscoring them by four tries to one.
The Australians also overcame a slow start in their semi-final, with the Pumitas, the surprise package in the tournament, running into an early lead thanks to a try from lock Estaban Lozada, after he charged down a clearance kick in the Australian 22 to race over unopposed.
The young Wallabies held a 29-10 half-time lead, scoring seven tries to three in the end, with right-wing Elia Tuqiri - the cousin of Wallaby wing and Rugby League convert Lote - scored two spectacular second-half tries.
Expect an interesting tussle between the Kiwis and the Aussies, with both sides boasting a lot of skill and strength, but an early indication of what one can expect on Sunday came during the pool stages of this tournament when these two teams played to an exciting 37-37 draw at Newbury.
"I don't think we will see such a high score again," said Australian coach Laurie Fisher, referring to the above-mentioned game.
"But while there might be less points scored there will certainly be tries. Both sides like to play with the ball in hand and if one side manages to get ahead then the game will really open up.
"There is going to be a lot of ball movement because New Zealand have a lot of potency out wide.
"But we won't be kicking much because we need to challenge their forwards and make them move across the park, which is something South Africa didn't do."
Players to watch in the Kiwi side are fullback Ben Atiga, voted the best No.15 at last year's tournament, second five-eight and skipper Sam Tuitupou, scrum-half Jimmy Cowan, who has already played NPC rugby, lock Ross Kennedy and tighthead prop Tim Fairbrother.
In the Australian side, keep an eye on fullback-cum-wing Mark Gerrard, the side's goal-kicker, wing Tuqiri and Super 12 regulars Josh Valentine, Jone Tawake and Rocky Elsom.
Captain and fly-half Lachlan MacKay, a wonderful attacking player, is also a man to watch.
"I don't think there is one thing, one player or one play that will make us better than New Zealand," said Fisher.
"I think our attention to detail, doing all the small things well and executing our plays accurately will be important if we are going to win the title."
Both teams have named unchanged starting XVs for the match, but Fisher has made three changes to the 'Baby Wallabies' bench.
Queensland's Nick Churven comes in as the replacement hooker ahead of New South Wales' Alan Manning, while fellow Queenslanders Luke Doherty (flank) and Drew Mitchell (utility back) replace Richard Brown and Mafi Kefu respectively.
Meanwhile, South Africa will try and make up for the disappointment of losing in the semi-finals when they face Argentina - also at the Kassam Stadium - in the third and fourth place play-off, earlier in the day.
In other U21 action on Sunday, Wales and France battle it out for fifth place, while hosts England face Scotland in the battle for seventh place. Both matches are at Newbury.
There are also two matches at Henley, with Ireland and Italy involved in the ninth-place play-off and Japan and Canada locked in a battle to avoid last place.
The teams for the Final:
New Zealand: 15 Ben Atiga, 14 Hayden Pedersen, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Sam Tuitupou (captain), 11 Pehi Te Whare, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Thomas Harding, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ross Kennedy, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 John Pareanga, 1 John Afoa.
Replacements: 16 Roger Dustow, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Kevin O'Neill, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Tobias Morland, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 Anthony Koonwaiyou.
Australia: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Elia Tuqiri, 13 Chris Siale, 12 Gene Fairbanks, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Lachlan MacKay (captain), 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 Lei Tomiki, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 William Caldwell, 4 Martin Wilson, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Steve Moore, 1 Peter Waring.
Replacements: 16 Nick Churven, 17 Marco Cecere, 18 Mitchell Chapman, 19 Luke Doherty, 20 Nicholas Haydon, 21 Cameron Shepherd, 22 Drew Mitchell.
Final day playing schedule:
Kassam Stadium:
Third-place play-off:
South Africa v Argentina
Kick-off: 12.15 (11.15 GMT)
Final:
New Zealand v Australia
Kick-off: 16.15 (15.15 GMT)
* Live text coverage on Planet Rugby
Newbury:
Seventh-place play-off:
England v Scotland
Kick-off: 11.00 (10.00 GMT)
Fifth-place play-off:
Wales v France
Kick-off: 13.15 (12.15 GMT)
Henley:
Eleventh-place play-off:
Japan v Canada
Kick-off: 11.00 (10.00 GMT)
Ninth-place play-off:
Ireland v Italy
Kick-off: 13.15 (12.15 GMT)
|
