NZ boys' and girls' U18 teams celebrate together. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand U18 boys and girls teams have done the double at the Global Youth Sevens tournament in Auckland, winning both titles together for the first time since 2022.
And they’ve done so with such style, character and self belief that it is probably time for fans to reconsider the prevailing year-long public bar sentiment that NZ has somehow fallen off the international pace in youth rugby.
Rugby followers can take a lot of pride from the deeds of both U18 teams as they passed stern examinations with flying colours.
The girls staged a comeback for the ages to defeat defending champions Japan 24-19 in the semi-finals, and then showed even more polish to beat potentially troublesome homegrown opposition in the form of NZ Cavaliers 27-10 in the final.
Meanwhile the NZ boys were arguably even more inspirational with their methodical dismantling of top seeds and very warm favourites Australia in the final, dishing out a comprehensive 41-10 thumping.
It was enough of a statement to prompt a major rethink about the balance of power in transtasman youth rugby, as they forensically picked apart an Australian team which at the start of the tournament had looked so good that they might have been from another planet.
That result means the U18 boys have now won this tournament eight times in the past 10 years, which fittingly also underlines another understated NZ trait: long-term consistency.
There have been a lot of very public question marks this year over whether selectors have got the right mix with national teams, and the players have not been immune from the spiral of negativity on social media.
Particularly with youth rugby, there is the age-old conundrum of never quite knowing who to trust: selectors who spend their lives professionally analysing footage of hundreds of players - or the likes of Lefty from Masterton who has loads of friends on Facebook and plenty of hot reckons.
But if there have been some recent tough times selection-wise, after this dual showing at the Global Youth Sevens, the good news is it looks like the selectors do know what they are doing.
Back at NZ Rugby headquarters this week, high performance talent identification manager PJ Williams could be excused for putting his feet up on his desk, lighting a big fat stinky cigar and cracking open a bottle of champagne.
Because while Australia’s quicksilver back Treyvon Pritchard was rightly identified as the tournament’s MVP, there was incontrovertible evidence that NZ also has a host of rising rugby stars bubbling away in black.
Most notably there is Westlake’s multi-skilled Matt Fleming who may well become a household rugby name in future years. At the very least, he will also now have Pritchard looking over his shoulder. Fleming was not only the best player in the final, imperious at times, but arguably also has a stronger defensive game than Pritchard.
Marlborough’s Anru Erasmus - who scored in the first minute of the final and again in the second spell - proved to be another inspired selection, Jake Hutchings was irrepressible, while Brayden Neilson, Jake Hill, Cam Jones, Brock Reid and James Tuituba all had moments of brilliance or displays of deep character over the three days.
When the tournament opened on Friday, Australia had beaten NZ 24-19 in an exhibition match, with Pritchard starring. But with their golden boy sitting out the final injured, Australia had little on the bench that could threaten.
By contrast, a feature of NZ’s play was their seamless interchange of personnel. They made quite a unit.
In the final a Jones chip-and-collect took them to a 12-5 lead though Australia’s Brody Folkes - a senior Australian sevens prospect - did pull a try back before the break.
But it was party time in the second spell as NZ ran in a further five tries, with Erasmus, Fleming, Jones, Hill and skipper Neilson all getting in on the act.
Australia came into this tournament on the back of two camps, but NZ only assembled three days beforehand.
So it was perhaps not surprising NZ had looked a little more uncertain in earlier outings, even in their 19-15 semi-final win over NZ Cavaliers, while Australia had been untroubled in beating Aotearoa Māori 39-5.
New Zealand U18 boys coach Tafai Ioasa praised the tournament for its important role in developing his players - and also acknowledged the coaching assistance he has had this time around from NZ sevens legend DJ Forbes.
“Obviously, the pathway to wearing a black jersey comes with some expectations and it was pretty keen,” Ioasa said.
“I think both NZ teams did exceptionally well around preparation.
“We just worked a whole week on connection. DJ (Forbes) has been a huge influence on that connection. There’s not so much you can achieve in a week, except if you can connect and get tight and play for each other. But that helps with all the other skills - and our kids have got the skills.”
Forbes’ influence on the team’s defensive patterns was also undeniable as Australia’s creativity was stifled.
“It was defence as much as anything which won the tournament,” Ioasa said.
NZ Boys’ U18s: Brayden Neilson (C), Rupeni Raviyawa, Elijah Solomona, Jake Hutchings, Jake Hill, Cam Jones, Tommy McQuoid, Henry Speedy, Matt Fleming, James Tuituba, Anru Erasmus, Brock Reid. Coach: Tafai Ioasa, Assistant coach: DJ Forbes.
Manager David Fox. Physio: Aurora Paris. Strength and conditioning: Olly Spicer. Campaign Manager: James Semple.
Tournament team: Treyvon Pritchard (Australia), Max Prykiel (Australia), Jake Hutchings (NZ), Brayden Neilson (NZ), Johan Sshaumkell (Cavaliers), Te Ariki Rogers (Aotearoa Māori), Matt Fleming (NZ).
Player of the final: Matt Fleming (NZ)
Tournament MVP: Treyvon Pritchard (Australia)
The NZ girls’ triumph was primarily centred around a stirring semi-final comeback against top seeds Japan, who led 19-0 at halftime with quick feet and plenty of attacking ideas and seemingly on target for a comfortable victory.
But NZ grimly pegged them back in the second spell, with the recovery beginning with Koiatarau Edwards hoovering up a bounce pass to score wide on the left.
Levonah Motuliki added another and Asha James made a brilliant solo break to tie the contest up before Mika Lene wormed her way across to finally get NZ in front at 24-19.
Japan still had a chance to win themselves with a number of phases of possession, but NZ tackled like demons and there were joyous celebrations at the final whistle.
Japan, two-times winners at Global Youth Sevens, had hinted at vulnerability with a 35-17 shock loss to 10th-seeded USA earlier in the tournament.
Though they then made quite a statement with an emphatic 43-0 win over a more-than-useful Matatū team in another pool match.
New Zealand Cavaliers girls assisted NZ U18 path to victory by knocking out second seeds Australia U18 33-24 in the quarter-finals.
Then in the semis Cavaliers beat a useful Rugby Vault Rugby team, co-captained by Rotorua’s Kaiarihi Puku and Hamilton’s Matilda Chandler, 29-12.
Cavaliers are an interesting entity, as a multicultural composite team, which on the female side dates back to 2019 and is the brainchild of Auckland rugby entrepreneur Lucky Smythe.
Smythe has long cobbled together a number of tidy players in both boys’ and girls’ ranks, many on the fringe of national selection.
In this instance Keighley-Rein Aria, Ngaawaimarino Simpkins and Bailey Edwards all proved prominent in the wins over Australia and Rugby Vault, while Taylah Seng and Malena Lavea also had their moments.
But NZ U18 were quite a step up as opponents in the final. Smythe has now been trying to capture a NZ scalp for years with the Cavaliers, but it remains elusive.
The U18 girls coach Blair Baxter described the title win as “a pretty special performance and special week”.
“It’s kind of hard to express the feelings and how much it means to this group,” Baxter said.
“We assembled for three days prior to being here and grew every match.
“The care the girls have for each other and their sisterhood in the programme is pretty special. There are many girls here that will go on to wear a Black Fern jersey in sevens and 15s.
Baxter said this sense of “care” was critical in the comeback against Japan.
“What we’ve found across the weekend is that we spend a lot of time without the ball, but when we get the ball, we can score tries easily. We’re super proud of that.”
The halftime message against Japan was the same as the pre-game message.
“We knew our discipline needed to be on. We also knew Japan were never going to give up, but our physicality could win for us, along with our ability to connect and work hard for each other. Two simple messages.”
In the final against Cavaliers, NZ were always in control from the moment Emacyn Ieremia dotted down wide on the left. Tournament standout Asha Taumoepeau-Williams made it 10-0, Asha James chimed in with a nice solo try and Edwards made it 22-0 by half time.
In the second spell Te Arani Vulu, another consistent performer, extended the lead to 27-0 despite some desperate Cavalier tackling.
The NZ U18 Girls earlier beat Central Storm 26-10 in a morning quarter-final.
NZ Girls U18s: Avah Sila, Koiatarau Edwards, Te Arani Vulu, Lynda Rabeni-Vatuloka, Levonah Motuliki, Alice Geary, Hana Symes, Poppy Baxter, Mika Lene, Emacyn Ieremia, Asha James, Asha Taumoepeau-Williams. Coach: Blair Baxter. Manager: Georgia Bewley.
Tournament team: Levonah Motuliki (NZ), Asha Taumoepeau-Williams (NZ), Ngawaimarino Simpkins (Cavaliers), Hiyori Kawachi (Japan), Maya Tebutt (Rugby Vault), Keighley-Rein Araia (Cavaliers), Marley Larkin (USA)
Player of the Final: Te Arani Vulu (NZ)
Player of the Tournament: Asha Taumoepeau-Williams (NZ).