Young Wallabies bidding to end NZ dominance
NEW Zealand have never failed in the Oceania Rugby Under-20 Championship but confidence is high in the Junior Wallabies camp that they in fact will be the team to beat when the archrivals play off for silverware tomorrow at Bond University.
The Kiwis have won all four prior editions of the tournament and have looked more convincing in lead-up games against Fiji and Japan, piling on 87 points against the latter after smashing Fiji 53-7.
Australia, by comparison, only snuck by Fiji 16-0 in a tense Tuesday encounter.
Back-rower Harry Wilson though believes the hosts can get the job done head-to-head.
“Obviously we have tried different variations of starting line-ups and now against New Zealand we have probably got our best team on the park and we’re all pretty confident now,” he said.
“If we can bash them and keep them on the back foot, that’s our best chance of trying to beat them.
“We believe we are as good a team as them this year so we are just going to play our game and we believe they will have to try to beat us.
“We have been together for a fair while now and we have just got full confidence in each other at the moment.”
As well as the Oceania title, there is the added carrot for players to secure spots for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Argentina.
Wilson, 19, missed the cut last year, making him even hungrier this time around.
“If you play well against New Zealand you are pretty well guaranteed a spot there because you can’t hide against them like you could with some other teams,” he added.
Australia will face New Zealand at 7pm tomorrow, after Japan and Fiji square off for third place from 5pm.