New Zealand Under 20s: 34 (Cohen Norrie 2, Henry Stuart, Haki Wiseman, Caleb Woodley, Logan Williams tries; Mika Muliaina 2 cons) Australia Under 20s: 29 (Marshall Le Maitre, Riley Whitfeld, Taione Taka, Finn Mackay, Leo Jaques tries; Finn Mackay 2 cons) HT: 12-24
In sunny conditions with a swirling breeze that made kicking difficult, New Zealand was outplayed for much of the contest. However, three tries against fewer players revealed poise to strike when it counted, and some grit was shown at the end.
The New Zealand lineout made a polished start with Jake Frost (two) and Max Fale claiming uncontested possession. In the fourth minute, Mika Muliaina, nephew of All Blacks centurion Mils Muliaina, passed wide to fullback Cohen Norrie, who glided outside and beat his marker for speed.
Frost was pinged for offside inside his own territory. Australia emulated New Zealand by choosing a lineout from the penalty and took the direct route to the paint with openside Marshall Le Maitre muscling over in the seventh minute. Finn Mackay converted, and Australia led 7-5.
In the 12th minute, Australian centre Leo Jaques was denied a try after obstruction by fullback Louis Fenwicke.
New Zealand then emulated Australia's direct approach. Otago prop Henry Stuart crashed over after 15 minutes.
Australia dominated the last 25 minutes of the first half, winning 10 of their 12 lineout throws and outscoring New Zealand 17-0. Remarkably, there were no handling errors and only two scrums in the first 40 minutes.
Swift ruck ball enabled Mackay to challenge the defence consistently. Mackay, who was part of the Australian Under18 side that beat New Zealand Secondary Schools twice in 2025, had a hand in all three tries, assisting Jaques on a Riley Whitfeld touchdown.
He then delivered a pass to Taione Taka on the left wing. In the 35th minute, a powerful maul had New Zealand backpedalling. Raipd ruck ball followed, and a bounce pass caused hesitation in the New Zealand defence, which Mackay quickly swooped.
New Zealand started the second half with renewed vigour. They controlled possession for the first five minutes. Eventually, Norrie, with a David Campese-style goose-step, slipped through. There were excellent touches in the lead-up by Charlie Sinton, who played for Bay of Plenty in the NPC last year.
In the 49th minute, Jaques was denied again when he lost the ball over the line with Pahulu hanging on grimly.
The game turned dramatically three minutes later when Aussie winger Cooper Watters was red-carded for 20 minutes for lifting the leg of flanker Finn McLeod past the horizontal. The Cantabrian had won the jackal, and Watters panicked.
Yet in the 53rd minute, Jaques finally celebrated his try, fending off Pahulu. New Zealand was exhausted after a big break by Taka.
Canterbury’s Logan Williams cuts a conspicuous figure, snaffled a cross-kick and dashed 50 meters in the 62nd minute, Australia was scrambling. At the next ruck, influential halfback Angus Grover was yellow-carded, leaving Australia down to 13.
From the ensuing scrum, Sinton easily created an overlap for captain and second five-eighths Haki Wiseman. Muliaina converted, and it was 29-24.
With an abundance of space, New Zealand’s approach was obvious: get the ball wide fast. Their 65th-minute try to make it 29-29, the same score as the corresponding fixture in 2025, was fortuitous. A Norrie clearance was charged down, putting everybody onside. Sinton was alert and delivered to Micah Fale at halfway, who, in turn, supplied openside Caleb Woodley.
Two minutes later, Williams continued his seismic impact with two kicks to space for himself to score. Again, there was some good fortune involved as Australian captain Tom Robinson (son of World Rugby Chairman Brett Robinson) appeared to have won a breakdown turnover.
Resorted to a full complement, Australia pressed hard for victory. Mackay rifled a pass to Fenwicke, who crossed, only for the try to be disallowed for a knock-on in the previous phase. Replacement prop Ethan Webber held up a menacing Aussie bust, and then New Zealand pushed an Australian maul over the sideline a metre shy of the corner flag.
The referee was Hanru van Rooyen from South Africa.
