NZ vs SA U20 livestream

Doesn't look official but certainly watchable

NZ 3-0 SA after 52 minutes. The pitch is waterlogged.

Straneg match. NZ made it 8-0 which seemed to kick SA into life. They scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead, before NZ grabbed another try at the death to make it 13-13.

The conditions were so poor, you couldn't really tell anything about the form of either side.

With only seconds left on the clock, NZ U20 tried to play from a free kick near their own 22. They made a break gave away a penalty near the SA 10m line. At this point, there seemed to be call from the touchline, and SA just tapped and kicked the ball off. They were still a yellow card man down. From the reactions, not all Baby Bok players agreed with the decision.

Looks like Australia are playing Argentina on the same pitch, so it's another splashfest. There's also a strong breeze, which is against Argentina in the first half.

Australia 3-18 Argentina after 46 minutes.

There was a clever Pumas try from a lineout close to the Australian line. Argentina set up a maul, which Australia fully committed to stopping as it looked like it was going to rumble over. The Argentinian no.8 just broke off from the back, headed to space away from the maul, and sprinted the last few yards to the line.

We are in the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Queensland, and the rain is torrential.

Australia have got back to 6-18 after 62 minutes. Argentina had a yellow card which was close to a red but the tackled player dipped before he was hit. Now the player has returned, it'll be hard for Australia to get some momentum in these conditions.

Argentina nicked another try, and finished 6-25 winners.

Today, NZ take on Argentina, then Australia face South Africa.

NZ have taken an early 14-0 lead against Argentina.

It was mostly a dry track for the first game, and that suited NZ, who finished 43-20 winners. Argentina started to come back in the second half, getting to 31-20, before NZ pulled away and made it safe.

Australia lead SA 10-7 at half time, and the rain is lashing down.

24-19 win for Australia over South Africa.

That leaves SA at the bottom of the table after two games, with just one draw.

New Zealand are top, with one win, and one draw. Argentina and Australia have a win and a loss apiece.

If New Zealand beat Australia on Sunday, they will take the title. If Australia wins, and Argentina beat South Africa, it will come down to points difference between those two. There is no scenario where SA can take finish top.

Thanks for the updates, Rugby Fan. I didn’t realise this was on. Will try to catch up with the highlights.

Kinda shocked that SA are at the bottom, but only two games played I suppose

Highlights of NZ vs Aus U20s.

Won't spoil the result, in case you don't know it already.

The only highlights video of the Boks vs Argentina u20s gives away the result in the title.

If you want some drama, then here's an unofficial video of the whole game.

This U20s competition was convened, because the Rugby Champion sides believe the Six Nations U20s has given northern hemisphere teams better preparation for the Junior World Cup.

Steve Hansen cited the poor performance of the Baby Blacks as a factor behind New Zealand looking more vulnerable at senior level. There's been more of an effort to connect the dots, and two of Razor Robertson's coaching team went over to monitor the U20s performance.

Torrential rain over half the competition made it difficult to compare performances. No team was shown up, though the New Zealand seems more bouyant about their showing. One report suggested the Baby Blacks should be favourites for the Junior World Championship.

Discipline seems to be an issue across all U20s sides, including in the North. Probably a combination of players making poor judgements, and officials having no qualms about carding at this level.

Recently, a lot of offences which look like straight red cards are getting mitigated down to yellow. Hard to know whether there'll be a quick swing back to harsher punishments, or if this is how refereeing is going to stay for the time being.