I was a bit surprised to see that Oz were playing England in the semi, but I immediately thought: what it Oz dominate the Poms in the scrums. Wouldn't that be sweet?
This Oz U/20 team is heaps better than the 2009 version; something I didn't predict before the tournament. We all knew that the Oz tight 5 was huge but size can only take you so far. It was the weight plus the aggression that made the difference. I waited for the time when the Oz team would flag, but it was they who finished the stronger.
Having seen all of these lads come through school I shouldn't have been too surprised at how well they played, but I have been disappointed so much before. There is strength in every position which is a combination of getting the pick of players from 2 strongish school years and players improving from their school days.
• 7. Gill didn't surprise me; as I have said before: he has star quality. He stills looks small but I will have to stop flying that kite until I see evidence that his smallness has negative consequences.
• The big front row did well and the surprise to me was hooker Siliva as I hadn't seen him play senior rugby. The Force have a good academy guy there though Macqueen will be bending his ear to come back to Victoria where he went to school. And isn't he TPNish around the ruck and doesn't he know how to whip out a wide ball to get the backline moving? PAE gradually asserted himself on the TH side but LHP Manu wasn't so authoritative until later in the game.
• The locks lived up to the hype of their dimensions and folks may see why I called Peterson a Vickerman at the schools level last year. Let's hope he gets somewhere near the ability of big Dan. Battye didn't disgrace himself either. None of the tight five were pot plants; they all tried to shift people and counter-rucked, and counter-counter-rucked. Therefore size did matter.
• A pity about Turner who has been plagued by injury since he left school and this looks like another long layoff. White was bloody good though. I wonder who they will send over as the reserve scrummie? Eddie Bredanhann who has won the Sydney Uni 1st grade spot would be my pick and he would still be eligible in2011.
• Matt To'omua went theough the motions in 2009 but was the experienced Super14 player this year as we expected he should have been, but I can't remember his kicking so well for goal before. The excellence of Coleman on attack using his pace was a surprise. I saw how fast he was for Oz 7s earlier but had forgotten that until I saw him speed along touch.
• Kimami Situati looks like he has a senior future at 13 after his stellar performances for Qld School on the wing in 2009, and it's good to see him passing the ball, which he didn't do last year. A Nuci master stroke?
• You can't argue with Nuci's switching of Morahan and Toua now as it worked but it still looks odd. Some coaches put a lesser defender on the wing so the touchline can help them but there wasn't much evidence that Toua is a bad defender. Good to see young Aidan is as slippery as ever.
• The other two back men Shipperley and Morahan proved how lethal they are. This was my first look at Shipperley since school and he hasn't lost his elusiveness.
• The negatives were the turnovers and too many dropped balls included in that figure. Also a lot of tries were leaked. You can excuse the ones scored down the flanks after breakouts when it's hard to cover the whole field but the ones through the midfield looked stoppable had the defence been configured right – but I haven't done a forensic examination yet.
• As for the South Africans: it was grand to see the Baby Boks being outweighed and out-muscled when it was ever the other way around. We knew how good 11 Mjekevu and 15 Lambie were from the Super14 but it was 10 Jantjies that took my eye. What a cracking player.
I'd rather be playing England than NZ in the semi. As usual the Blacks look powerful, alert, destructive and patient.
