At Sky Stadium, Wellington: New Zealand 19 (Caleb Tangitau 19’ 38’, Macca Springer 30’ tries; Taha Kemara 2 con) Australia 18 (Massimo De Lutiis 55’, Henry O’Donnell 65’ tries; Jack Bowen con, 2 pen). HT: 19-6
Hurricanes rising star Harry Godfrey shone with three assists as the New Zealand under-20 men’s rugby team survived a tense second-half to beat the Junior Wallabies by the slimmest of margins in Wellington on Saturday.
New Zealand escaped with a narrow 19-18 win in their second of two World Cup warm-up matches against the touring Australians to bounce back from their defeat in the first match on Monday, despite being kept scoreless in the second half at Sky Stadium.
New Zealand were under the pump for large periods of the game but emerged victorious by a single point after their clinical back three took their opportunities during a 20-minute first-half blitz.
New Zealand scored all of their points during the second quarter of the match with fullback Godfrey having a hand in all three of their tries, two of which were scored by powerful All Blacks Sevens winger Caleb Tangitau.
Tangitau showcased his finishing prowess to score the first try of the game in the 19th minute when Godrey produced a cross field kick to the right. The No. 14 leapt high and scooped the ball out of the air.
Elias Rodriguez/PHOTOSPORT
Harry Godfrey in action for the New Zealand under-20 men’s rugby team.
Godfrey then sent Crusaders left-winger Macca Springer into the left corner after fending off Matias Jensen and drawing two defenders following an attacking scrum inside the Australia 22.
Tangitau struck again two minutes before halftime to give New Zealand a comfortable 19-6 lead after Godfrey somehow managed to get an offload away as he went to ground in a tackle.
Tangitau still had a lot of work to do. He stepped inside Tom Morrison and rode a tackler across the try-line. It proved to be the winning of the game.
The Junior Wallabies dominated the second half but were left to rue a wayward conversion from Jack Bowen that struck the post from close range as their late comeback fell short.
After conceding three first-half tries, Australia hit back in the 65th minute when prop Massimo De Lutiis crashed over from a pick and go following a sustained period of pressure on the New Zealand line.
A clever chip over the top from Bowen saw centre Henry O’Donnell score by the posts 10 minutes later, cutting the deficit to just one point and setting up a grandstand finish.
However, New Zealand hung on to claim a narrow win, giving Clark Laidlaw’s team a boost of confidence less than one month out from the World Rugby Under-20 Championship in South Africa.
