The World Rugby U20 Championship continues in South Africa on Thursday and for Wales that means a meeting with Japan, following their narrow, one-point, 27-26 defeat to New Zealand in their opening game. It may not have yielded a victory, but as well as the two bonus points, there was plenty of information to harvest, according to Welsh rugby coach, analyst, and consultant, Tomas Marks.
Despite an opening try by the Baby Blacks, the young Welsh Dragons battled back with their best 30 minutes of the season, capped by three well-taken tries from line-outs.
Wales’ set piece coach, Marc Breeze, would be very happy with the team’s 100% line-out success in the first half with 11 from 11.
This excellence allowed them to launch from line-out mauls and attack against a narrow New Zealand defence.
The first try was a classic five-metre driving line-out, finished clinically by hooker Lewis Lloyd and the second try was out of the Canterbury Crusaders’ play book.
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Fly-half Daniel Edwards scored it after a lovely loop play with inside centre Bryn Bradley to score under the posts.
The next score was generated again from an impressive driving line-out and instead of penetrating the middle of the New zealand defence they attacked wide with full-back Cameron Winnett and it enabled No.8 Morgan Morse to power his way over the line after Winnett’s surge.
In the first half, Wales dominated the game with 73% territory, 62% possession and importantly, they led 19-5 at the half-time break.
The players to impress in the first half were colossal No.8 Morse, second row Jonny Green, hooker Lloyd and scrum-half Archie Hughes.
Morse was top of the carries with nine, Lewis had six, and Green had five – real inroads into the New Zealand defence.
Defensively, they worked hard with Morse at the top of the tackle charts with five, scrum-half Hughes making a jackal turnover and four tackles, and hooker Lloyd making two dominant tackles from his four attempts.
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Head coach Mark Jones would have been very satisfied with the opening 40 as they were able to make four line-breaks against a quality team and finish the Edwards try with aplomb.
The second half was typical of New Zealand as they went on the rampage in attack, forcing Wales to make 60 tackles in 26 minutes.
New Zealand importantly scored 22 unanswered points in that time to salvage the match, and, in the end, the result.
New Zealand were able to score three tries – from a line-out driving maul, a wide attack, and an exquisite cross-field kick from the full-back Harry Godfrey.
But despite the destructive New Zealand comeback, Wales were still able to stay in the battle with an impressive final ten minutes.
Although they crucially missed a 40-metre penalty to close the lead, they scored in the final two minutes from another driving line-out with replacement hooker Sam Scarfe burrowing his way over the try line.
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Unfortunately, Wales failed to secure the final re-start of the match and New Zealand sealed the match by kicking the ball off the pitch.
Despite the agonising loss, there were notable performances in the match with captain Ryan Woodman showing excellent leadership qualities.
He reminded the referee of a penalty advantage to gain the opportunity for a bonus point try, which could be very important in the context of the tournament.
The other players that stood out in this match were Morse, as he scored a try, carried 19 times and made ten tackles in a storming performance.
Flanker Lucas De La Rua worked tirelessly with nine tackles and one jackal turnover, but he will need to clean up his contact area work as he conceded two penalties.
Lucas De La Rua has taken to U20 rugby like a duck to water.
Started the season playing in the U18 College League and now going toe-to-toe with the Baby Blacks in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/bQ68OqDcrG
— Cardiff Rugby Life (@CardiffRugbyWeb) June 27, 2023
The Welsh players that made an impact from the bench were prop Louie Fletcher with seven carries, and backrower Seb Driscoll with five carries and three tackles on his international debut.
Mark Jones didn’t use three of his substitutes – strange, under the tight circumstances, but I expect him to include the likes of powerhouse backrower Mackenzie Martin and “razzle dazzle” back Joe Westwood in the next encounter as they are two game-changers.
The team should be very confident going into the second pool match against Japan as they dominated the set piece against New Zealand, scored four tries against the six time World Champions and, given it’s winter in South Africa, the weather should suit this Welsh squad.
