New Zealand’s “Baby Blacks” won the world under-20 title for the fifth time on Saturday with a 21-16 victory over defending champions England.
It was New Zealand’s first triumph since 2011 after they had captured the first four editions from 2008 onward.
England, the double defending champions, had led 7-0 at one stage after center Max Clark scored what turned out to be his side’s only try of the game.
Replacement center Vincent Tavae-Aso helped pull New Zealand back into the final with his team’s first try as they went on to carve out a narrow 11-10 lead at the interval.
Powerful No. 8 Akira Ioane grabbed his team’s second try before he was sin-binned and in a dramatic finale England had a try ruled out when Piers O’Connor was judged to be offside.
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson said he had used history as a motivation, reminding his squad of the sacrifices made by the nation’s famed 28th Maori Battalion which fought in Italy during World War II.
“Our theme was the Italian campaign of the second division, which involved the New Zealand Maori battalion as well, and we used a lot of their themes when they were in Italy,” Robertson said. “They fought hard and had their final in Trieste. We used that tonight. We have our dog tags, and we fought for the heroes and the fallen before us, so it was pretty empowered and it was amazing.”
Back in New Zealand, Wellington Hurricanes outside back Nehe Milner Skudder and Canterbury Crusaders hooker Codie Taylor were two of the biggest surprises in Steve Hansen’s extended All Blacks squad named yesterday.
Milner Skudder and Taylor were joined by Hurricanes lock James Broadhurst, Highlanders flyhalf Lima Sopoaga and his teammate Waisake Naholo, as the five uncapped players in the 41-man squad as the All Blacks begin their final preparations for their World Cup defense.
Hansen named the extended squad as the All Blacks face Samoa on July 8, just four days after the Super XV final, meaning the coach may not be able to rely on his full squad.
New Zealand could conceivably have two teams in that final, with the Otago Highlanders and Wellington Hurricanes playing semi-finals against Australian opposition on Saturday.
“We have selected a large squad of 41 players, partly through necessity, with two New Zealand teams still involved in the Super Rugby competition, but, more importantly, it also gives us the chance to work with some athletes we haven’t worked with before and see how they cope at Test level,” Hansen said at a press conference in Auckland.
“This will allow us to make better decisions when it comes to selecting our Rugby World Cup team in August,” he said.
Hansen will finalize his 31-man Rugby World Cup squad on Aug. 30.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite