Follow all the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship action here.
New Zealand def. Argentina (32-9)
After a tight first half, New Zealand held Argentina scoreless in the second to put one hand firmly on the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship trophy.
In the ninth minute, flyhalf Lucas Cashmore had an opportunity to put the Kiwis on the board first but pushed his penalty goal slightly to the left.
Los Pumitas flyhalf Tomas Suarez Folch missed his own penalty attempt in the 18th minute, hitting the left upright, but a handling error minutes later from Junior All Blacks winger Jakob Te-Hiwi 30m out and a collapsed scrum penalty, allowed Suarez Folch to open the scoring 3-nil.
However, New Zealand immediately hit back, winning a penalty off the kick-off. Cashmore converted to tie the game and would take the lead three minutes later through another penalty.
Argentina would tie up the game in the 35th minute after New Zealand flanker Hayden Micheals was sent off for a lifting tackle on Los Pumitas captain Mateo Albanese.
In the final minute of the half, Suarez Folch would convert his third penalty to give Argentina a three-point lead, but a lineout error from hooker Boris Wenger gave the ball back to the Kiwis. Multiple phases later Te-Hiwi would twist over the line to score the first try of the match.
An 80m monster punt from Suarez Folch ran dead in the 57th minute which would result in an Oliver Haig try, and another Argentina kicking error in the 68th minute allowed Joel Lam to cross over untouched.
New Zealand winger Macca Springer ended the match with a superb solo try, breaking two tackles, fending off another and outrunning three more to score under the posts.
New Zealand (32) Tries: Te-Hiwi, Haig, Lam, Springer Conversions: Cashmore, Millar (2) Penalty Goals: Cashmore (2)
Argentina (9) Penalty Goals: Suarez Folch (3)
Australia def. Fiji (58-5)
The Junior Wallabies bounced backed from their narrow defeat to Argentina in style, running in nine tries to one against Fiji to keep their hopes of back-to-back titles alive. The Fijians were on the back foot early after Stade Français lock Jeneioro Wakeham was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the third minute.
Australia would capitalise on the numerical advantage, scoring twice in the next 10 minutes. Jayden Blake would crash over the line in the fourth minute, while captain Mac Grealy picked up a perfect weighted grubber from Jack Bowen to score under the posts in the eighth.
Grealy would be involved in a second grubber try in the 22nd minute, putting David Vaihu over from his boot.
Hours after being selected in the Aussie 7s team for the Commonwealth Games, Ben Dowling scored a double in the final 10 minutes of the half to extend Australia’s half-time lead to 27.
Fiji finally got on the board early in the second half when lock Petero Mailulu hit a gap 10m out and carried Aussie back Lukas Ripley over the line. Tremain Little narrowly missed the conversion, hitting the left upright.
Despite having only converted one kick in the first half, Bowen scored a penalty in the 52nd minute and would not miss again for the remainder of the match. Australia continued to pile on the points in the remaining 20 minutes as Vaihu and Blake each scored their second, with Bowen and Teddy Wilson both scoring in the last five minutes.
Australia (58) Tries: Blake (2), Grealy, Vaihu (2), Dowling (2), Bowen, Wilson Conversions: Bowen (5) Penalty Goals: Bowen
Fiji (5) Tries: Mailulu
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2022 Oceania Rugby U20 Championship Schedule (Sunshine Coast Stadium)
Match Round 1: Friday 1 July 2022
New Zealand v Fiji – kick off 5pm Australia v Argentina – kick off 7pm
Match Round 2: Tuesday 5 July 2022
New Zealand v Argentina – kick off 2pm Australia v Fiji – kick off 4pm
Match Round 3: Sunday 10 July 2022
Fiji v Argentina – kick off 2pm Australia v New Zealand – kick off 4pm
Matches will be live on Stan Sport (Australia), Spark Sport (New Zealand) and ESPN (Argentina AL Latam and South America).
Round 3 Preview
With two bonus-point wins and a +92 points differential, all New Zealand are poised to secure their fifth Oceania Rugby U20 title on Sunday, July 10 when they face hosts Australia in the tournament’s final match.
Australia will need to secure a bonus-point win to prevent the Kiwis from winning the championship.
After this afternoon’s loss to New Zealand and failing to pick up a bonus point against Australia on Friday night, Argentina will be looking to finish second with a win against Fiji on Sunday.
While Fiji will be hoping to finish the tournament on a high after losing their opening two matches 136-10.
