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New Zealand have scored 26 tries and conceded just four in
reaching the IRB Junior World Championship 2010 final, but somewhat
worryingly for their opponents Australia the consensus coming out
of the Baby Blacks camp is that they are yet to reach their
"full potential".
In fact captain Tyler Bleyendaal, one of the four nominees
for the IRB Junior Player of the Year 2010 accolade, insists that
New Zealand have not yet - in any match - produced the performance
they had targeted, something they will have to put right if they
are to beat Australia.
"No, definitely not ... we have fallen short on all
occasions I would say," explained Bleyendaal, the 20-year-old
hoping to follow in the footsteps of Chris Smith and Aaron Cruden
by lifting the trophy. "We have progressed, but we are not
where we want to be yet. We have got one more chance I guess and if
we can put that performance on the park hopefully we can come out
with the trophy.
"It is probably just a lot of handling errors that we
have been making so if we can just hang onto the ball and just
create phases. It is all pretty simple stuff that we need to tweak,
we are just about there. We have got the talent, the players, the
forward pack is doing the hard work, so it's just little stuff.
"Australia are a great side with a lot of attacking
flair and we are going to have to play well and it is just an
exciting prospect. They will play quick, they like to move the ball
around and they have got a lot of attacking weapons. We are going
to have to defend well and really be on our game, it is just going
to be relentless the whole game."
Two in the family?
Flanker Luke Whitelock echoes this sentiment, knowing that it
will take an 80-minute performance for the latest crop of Baby
Blacks if they are to replicate his older brother Sam's
achievement in winning the inaugural Junior World Championship
title in 2008.
"At times we've been playing really well but just
small things that we think we're not doing properly. We've
still got a lot of things to work on and once we do hit those we
think we'll be doing quite good," said Whitelock, who
recalls getting up in the early hours to watch Sam in that final in
Wales.
"Aussie are looking pretty sharp, they're going to
test us in a lot more areas and we're going to have to be right
on our game to win and these sort of games don't get won at
half time at all, it comes down to the 80th minute or later.
"They'll be a lot faster paced game, they throw the
ball around a lot more, they've got players that can attack you
from anywhere and they've got a mobile forward pack. I think
the pace of the game, they've got a really good scrum and stuff
like that will be something we will need to be aware of.
"We've definitely got to be on top of our game,
it's going to be who wants it more I think on the day and who
is more clinical and who executes their opportunities when they
come better. I think we are full of confidence in our team, but
it's going to be a really hard game."
Biggest challenge yet
The Trans Tasman rivals have only met once before in Junior
World Championship history, in last year's semi finals in Japan
with the Baby Blacks running out 31-17 winners, and coach Dave
Rennie openly admits that Australia will pose a challenge his
players have not yet faced in Argentina.
"Australia are quite different [to the sides we played
so far]. They're probably similar to us so they're the type
of team that will punish you from turnover ball whereas the other
sides haven't really played the game so quick," admitted
Rennie.
"It's very much a ruck and run game with them and
it's probably similar to us. I think we've probably both
got ideas of trying to shut down each other's space and deny
them time and opportunity hopefully.
"We didn't go as well as we would have liked against
South Africa, the first 25 minutes was pretty good but we
haven't been able to put our foot on the throat of teams in the
last couple of games and we won't be able to do that with
Australia.
"I think if we can put in a good performance we've
got a chance, but if we turn over the ball as often as we did
against South Africa then Aussie will punish us ... I think for the
first time we've come up against a team that has the ability to
tear us apart.
"We've had a close look at that and we're going
to have to be a lot better than we have been so if we can defend
well and limit the amount of points they can score, then we
don't have to get too many ourselves."
No pressure
Rennie, who has guided New Zealand Under 20s to the two
titles and an unbeaten run of 14 matches in the Junior World
Championship, has the luxury of naming an unchanged starting
line-up from the 36-7 victory over South Africa in the semi finals
last Thursday.
The only change comes on the bench, where Richard Haddon
replaces Matt Graham. New Zealand, though, will face a settled
Australian side which shows only one change from the semi finals
with Colby Faingaa returning to the back row after missing two
matches with a foot injury.
The Baby Blacks may have won the last two titles, won 14
matches in a row across the three tournaments with a smallest
winning margin of 14 points, but Bleyendaal insists he and the
squad are not feeling the weight of expectation to preserve that
run.
"There is pressure there, but we are kind of not in that
mind frame at the moment, we are trying to keep it pretty
positive," explained the fly half.
"We know if we can perform well that we have the best
opportunity to win that trophy, but if we come off the field with
no regrets, that we have put everything on the park that we can and
we have played to our potential that is all we can ask for and
hopefully that is enough to lift that trophy.
"[To lift the trophy] probably would be the feeling of a
lifetime. A lot of hard work has gone into it and all the boys have
tried really hard, they have put in a lot of hard work as well and
it is just the ultimate feeling I guess - that is the ultimate
goal, that is what we have worked hard for for six months now and
we will do everything we can to lift it."
Whether or not Bleyendaal gets to experience the
"feeling of a lifetime" or not at the Estadio El Coloso
del Parque in Rosario on Monday, the final promising to be a
spectacle for those in the stadium, watching around the world on
television or live on the IRB website.
READ COMMENTATOR WILLIE LOSE'S PREVIEW ON THE FINAL
>>
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BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SOUTH AFRICA - LIVE AND ON-DEMAND ON THE IRB
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KO 19:10 LOCAL TIME (08:10 AUS (22 JUN) / 10:10 NZL (22
JUN)
