NZ Schools team in a huddle. Photo / Bruce Holloway
New Zealand Schools have stumbled to their worst-ever rugby defeat, humbled 81-48 by a rampant Australia U18 team in Canberra, in the first match of a two-test series on Monday.
The 33-point deficit was not only a record losing margin for New Zealand Schools, but Australia’s 81 points is also almost certainly the most points conceded by any New Zealand representative rugby team against international opponents.
The various incarnations of national Colts, Māori, Schools, masters, sevens and disability teams New Zealand have assembled for over a century have never been thrashed quite like this.
It was a horror show to rank beyond England putting 56 on the Black Ferns in 2021 or the All Blacks’ embarrassing 43-10 loss to the Springboks in Wellington earlier this month.
And notwithstanding the fact there is a chance for redemption with a second match in Canberra on Saturday, this was a result which may also reignite debate about whether New Zealand Schools should be the team at the pinnacle of the country’s development pathway at U18 level.
Australia U18 included players who have left secondary school which theoretically offers a competitive advantage, though as it happens, 20 of their 23 players are still schoolboys.
Either way, such a hefty defeat is inexcusable when viewed in historical context.
The most points New Zealand Schools had ever previously conceded was 38, which occurred last year in a seven-point defeat to Australia in Hamilton, while the previous highest-scoring New Zealand-vs-Australia U18 match was New Zealand’s 55-36 win in 2023 and New Zealand’s biggest losing margin was 37-11 against Waikato U20s in 2012.
In normal circumstances New Zealand Schools’ 48 points would represent a fair international tally, and it was exactly what they mustered in beating New Zealand Barbarians prior to departing for Australia.
But in a match where defence appeared to be an afterthought for both teams, New Zealand simply had nothing anywhere near the class of Australia’s mercurial midfield backs, second-five Treyvon Pritchard and centre Cyrus Bloomfield, who repeatedly ripped them to shreds.
They were a lethal combination and created havoc, accounting for five of Australia’s 12 tries, and probably deserved more as they ran riot in what unfolded as a rugby equivalent of cricket’s IPL, absent of hysterical spectators and tacky music.
New Zealand’s midfield backs were little more than turnstiles for their electric opponents, and aptly described by livestreaming commentators as “heat-seeking missiles”.
Bloomfield, 17, not only scored three tries but set up a couple as well, while Australia also had quality in their pack, with No 8 Heinz Lemoto and lock Isaac Fonua – members of the Australia team which beat Schools 38-31 in Hamilton last year – also among the scorers.
Australia fullback Nicholas Conway wasn’t far behind in terms of pedigree. At the start of the second half he ran 70m and took a return pass for a try which was eerily reminiscent of Matthew Burke’s all-time classic for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in Brisbane in 1996.
New Zealand were 19-3 down after 16 minutes and at times it looked like a complete calamity. Early on they dropped a restart cold and were penalised for retrieving the ball in an offside position. Then, after Australia conceded a turnover, the ball was kicked out on the full, and Australia scored almost immediately.
While Australia warmed to their task with midfield brilliance, New Zealand’s defence had more gaps than a crackhead convention.
New Zealand were always chasing. Two of their tries were lineout drives, with a further try coming from a ruck after another enveloping surge.
While those were worthy outcomes, in terms of imagination it simply couldn’t compare with the classy breaks and brilliance of Australia’s backline. By contrast New Zealand’s backline passing was regularly wayward.
Alani Fakava got New Zealand’s first try from a rolling maul, while there were flickers of form from New Zealand No 8 Rupeni Raviyawa, who picked up two handy first-half tries but faded in the second spell.
New Zealand only trailed 26-22 at the break, but were blown away by three Australian tries early in the second spell, and then a further five as the half unfolded.
For New Zealand, halfback Marco Miln was brave and sprightly, scoring a nice try when played in by substitute hooker Luka Makata and also making two eye-catching line-breaks. Miln emerged from the rubble with his reputation not only intact but enhanced.
Winger Ollie Guerin had some lively moments and scored a good second-half try from a kick through – though it came after Australia had already cracked 60 points. Guerin also flourishes at centre, where he could well be moved for the second test.
Fullback Lautasi Etuale, a second-year New Zealand Schools selection, ran with gusto and proved tough to handle on attack. Replacement No 8 Tom Perkins scored a late rolling maul try while winger and co-captain Siale Pahulu scored the final try.
But this match was all about the Australians. The herculean Lemotu was Harold Matthews Rugby League player of the year for the Penrith Panthers last year but appears destined to sign a rugby deal with French champions Toulouse.
Pritchard is the brother of New Zealand-born Australian U20s and Brumbies player Kadin Pritchard. He is a “Churchie”, a product of Anglican Church Grammar, an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys in Brisbane.
“Churchie” is one of Australia’s wealthiest schools and has won the prestigious GPS championship 19 times, producing Wallabies David Pocock and Quade Cooper.
Bloomfield, a member of the Waratahs Academy, also plays rugby league and attends Oakhill College, an independent Catholic school in Western Sydney.
Meanwhile, another Aussie to catch the eye was sub Ed Kasprowicz, son of former Australian cricket fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz, who scored late.
New Zealand Schools won the first international against Australia, 7-6 in Auckland in 1978 and still enjoys a 29-12 advantage.
Australia U18s had warmed up for the series with an 81-5 win over Australia Schools.
In scoring three tries, Bloomfield joined Whanganui Collegiate winger Jason Bowie as a transtasman test hat-trick hero. Bowie scored three tries in New Zealand’s 25-3 win over the Aussies at Athletic Park in Wellington in 1989. The Australian squad featured five future Wallabies, Tim Kelaher, Barry Lea, Marco Caputo, Rod Kafer and Glenn Panoho, underlining the quality of Bowie’s achievement.
Bowie was something of a shooting star. All told, Bowie played 61 games for the First XV at Wanganui Collegiate and amassed 633 points. He scored 78 tries – 18 in 1987, 21 in 1988 and 39 in 1989. He was also a First XI cricketer. He went on to play only seven first-class games, scoring six tries, for Otago and the Otago XV.
Australia U18 81 (Bloomfield 3, Pritchard 2, Lemoto, Folkes, Conway, Kasprowicz, Slater, Geros, Fonua tries; Mackay 7 con, Mesritz 2 con; Mackay pen ) New Zealand 48 (Rupeni Raviyawa 2, Alani Fakava, Siale Pahulu, Ollie Guerin, Tom Perkins, Marco Miln tries; Taylor 5 con; Taylor pen).
New Zealand Schools: 1. Henry Hunter, 2. Alani Fakava, 3. Riley Grant-Faiva, 4. Logan Platt, 5. Hunter Weaver, 6. Jake Hutchings, 7. Daniel Lawrence, 8. Rupeni Raviyawa, 9. Marco Miln, 10. Jimmy Taylor, 11. Siale Pahulu, 12. Nehemiah Su’a, 13. Nico Stanley, 14. Oliver Guerin, 15. Lautasi Etuale. Subs: Luka Patumaka Makata, Isireli Qaranivalu, Christiaan Botha, Jacob Carter, Sione Katoa, Liston Vaka’uta, Tom Perkins, Jamie Viljoen.
Australia U18: 1. Kingsley Uys, 2. Isaac Rauluni, 3. Levi Slater, 4. Isaac Fonua, 5. William Ross, 6. Justice Taumoepeau, 7. Jarvis Orr, 8. Heinz Lemoto, 9. Angus Grover (c), 10. Finn Mackay, 11. Talen Risati, 12. Treyvon Pritchard, 13. Cyrus Bloomfield, 14. Brody Folkes, 15 Nicholas Conway. Subs: 16. Oliver Smith, 17. Tito Hamala, 18 Hasani Bloomfield, 19. Ed Kasprowicz, 20. TJ Talaileva, 21 Chayse Geros, 22 Archie Mesritz, 23 Rory O’Connor.