Ere Enari got some gametime with Canterbury last year. Photo / Photosport
The New Zealand Under 20s are mindful of having a Plan B to their attacking strategy ahead of next month's world champs in Georgia.
Last year in England, New Zealand clearly had the most talented backs - such as Shaun Stevenson and Jordie Barrett - and ability to play high
octane rugby, but when the weather turned and the refereeing and opposition tactics were not conducive to running rugby, they did not handle the pressure, their loss to Ireland leading to a lowly fifth place finish.
"We've looked at our attack structures and where we want to attack. We're hopeful about the weather in Georgia and that will play in our favour. We also have some new rules being trialled around the scrum, so teams have to hook the ball, for example. UK teams will have to adapt," says New Zealand coach Craig Philpott.
"I don't think we want to go away from the way we play the game and particularly the climate we are going into, so there won't be massive change, but there are some areas we are interested in tweaking. It's painting different pictures for different teams."
New Zealand will get to try out some of those attacking structures this Friday against Fiji on the Gold Coast when the Oceania Under 20 championship kicks off. There is still much to play for among the 31 players, as the final cull for Georgia will see 28 travelling to the world champs.
