Help at hand for under-20 coach

New Baby Blacks coach Jono Gibbes is set to have some handy helping hands at this year’s inaugural Under-20 Rugby Championship across the Tasman.

Details of the tournament were released yesterday, with the first edition of the new annual event to be staged on the Sunshine Coast in May.

Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina will square off against one another once each across 11 days to crown a winner, in an event considered crucial for the southern hemisphere sides’ development, as they aim to wrest control back from the north.

Since winning the first four editions of the world championship, from 2008-11, New Zealand have fallen away in recent years, finishing a lowly seventh in the last two events, in 2019 and 2023, either side of Covid-19 disrupting the age-grade event, with France now the reigning three-time champions.

The buildup to the world championship starts in earnest for the Baby Blacks with this new Rugby Championship platform, which Gibbes notes will be a great answer in the search for competitive matches to mirror the Under-20 Six Nations, which has been running since 2008.

Gibbes takes over from new Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw this year, and while he will be assisted by Brad Cooper, Jarrad Hoeata and Craig Dunlea, the eight-test former All Black and ex-Waikato coach has revealed there will be a couple of other notable names playing a key role, too, as he aims for his programme to be a key vehicle for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.

“We want to try and create solutions for Razor in 2027,” Gibbes declared, in reference to the next World Cup, and Robertson’s four-year contract.

“Razor is pretty passionate about the 20s team – he had really good experiences there. (New All Blacks assistant coaches) Leon MacDonald and Jason Ryan have been down, and they will integrate with us in Wellington in our install and will be over in Australia during the TRC, so there will be a close link and influence from the All Black group.”

Gibbes said the All Blacks coaches would not, however, have a say on selection.

GETTY IMAGES Daniel James of Wales reacts after missing the penalty that saw his team eliminated in a shootout against Poland. Elsewhere, there was delight for Ukraine players, inset left, and Georgia fans, inset right, after their teams qualified for the Euro finals.