Despite a rocky start, New Zealand produced its most accomplished display of 2025.
Ireland initially rocked New Zealand by scoring two tries within the first ten minutes. First five-eighth Tom Wood stabbed the ball forward for Oisin Minogue to chase. Minogue put the ball to the toe again and collected the perfect bounce. Then the openside flanker charged through a gap near a lineout at the ten-metre mark in his own half. After a 40-metre surge, quick recycling of the ball, and rapid distribution, New Zealand found themselves cooked, allowing Daniel Green to score unopposed.
A mistake from the restart invited New Zealand back into the contest. Heavy forward momentum had Ireland backpedalling, enabling Mosese Bason to power over for a try. New Zealand conceded seven of the first eight penalties, resulting in lock Jayden Sa being sin-binned for persistent infringements. Wood successfully converted a straightforward penalty, giving Ireland a 15-7 lead.
A kickoff by Will Cole was allowed to bounce by Ireland and was seized by Jake Wiseman. New Zealand quickly organised itself into shape, and lock Xavier Tracey charged over for a try.
Irish No. 8 Luke Murphy proved to be a handful, but when he was held up on the try line by second five-eighth Jack Wiseman, it signalled a turning point in the match. After the dropout, Bason made a steal, and a long clearance by Will Cole was met poorly by Ireland. A determined surge from Finn McLeod led to a close-range try by Cooper Roberts, made possible by a clever offload that the centre delivered earlier.
Speaking of offloads, a brilliant pass from Maloni Kunawave set up a try for Cole following sensational handling in a sustained 60-meter attack. Ireland was reeling. Halfback Dylan Pledger dashed through the middle of an Irish ruck for New Zealand’s fifth try. Shortly after, Irish halfback Will Wootton received a yellow card for a cynical foul after Caleb Woodley had breached the emerald wall.
New Zealand extinguished any hopes of an Irish comeback shortly after the interval, scoring three tries within ten minutes. Rico Simpson made a sneaky offload to Frank Vaenuku, who barreled through two defenders. Roberts then broke free for a 50-metre run from the restart, and despite a long bounce pass to Kunawave that almost derailed the play, quick hands from the winger set Pledger free for another try.
New Zealand's forwards were finally rewarded for their toil when replacement hooker Shaun Kempston drove over from a rolling maul. With the score at 50, New Zealand relaxed until the 75th minute, when Billy Bohan received a red card. Another lineout drive led to a second try for Kempston, and Kunawave applied the icing on the cake with a try following a freighting rush from replacement flanker Aisake Vakasiuola.
Vaenuku and Kunawave combined for an astonishing 238 metres gained, beating 14 defenders and making five line breaks. New Zealand delivered 13 offloads to Ireland’s four, while the Irish missed 35 tackles compared to New Zealand’s 12. Tracey (13 tackles) and Woodley (10 tackles) were the backbone of New Zealand’s defence.
Historically, New Zealand has won nine of their ten encounters with Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship. Their largest victory over Ireland was a 69-3 victory in Georgia in 2017, when New Zealand scored 11 tries, with future All Blacks contributing to seven of them: Will Jordan (3), Caleb Clarke (3), and Braydon Ennor.
New Zealand has won 17 of their last 19 pool stage games and boasts a 58-14 overall record in the tournament, compared to Ireland’s 34 wins in 72 matches.
New Zealand's opponent in the Semi-Final is yet to be confirmed.
New Zealand Under 20: 69 (Mosese Bason, Xavier Tracey, Cooper Roberts, Will Cole, Dylan Pledger 2. Frank Vaenuku, Shaun Kempston 2, Maloni Kunawave 2 tries; Will Cole 6 cons, Rico Simpson con) Ireland Under 20: 22 (Oisin Minogue, Daniel Green, Billy Bohan tries; Tom Wood con, pen) HT: 31-15