New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team

The New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team, nicknamed the Baby Blacks, is the representative rugby union team from New Zealand. It replaced the two former age grade teams, the under-19s and the under-21s. Their first tournament was the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship, which they won after defeating England (38–3) in the final. They have gone on to also win the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2017. The New Zealand under-20s have been nicknamed the "Baby Blacks" after the youthful All Blacks side which played in 1986.

Overall Summary of all matches played by the New Zealand Under-20s as of 18 July 2026 following the match against England in the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship.

Opposition Played Won Drawn Lost %Win 8 7 0 1 % 19 14 1 4 % 7 6 0 1 % 7 7 0 0 % 8 4 0 4 % 4 4 0 0 % 10 9 0 1 % 4 4 0 0 % 5 5 0 0 % 5 5 0 0 % 5 5 0 0 % 11 2 2 7 % 1 1 0 0 % 2 2 0 0 % 1 1 0 0 % 11 9 0 2 % Total 108 85 3 11 %

World Rugby U20 Championship record YearRoundPosition 2008Champions1st550024228 2009Champions1st550021554 2010Champions1st550026252 2011Champions1st550027451 2012Runners-up2nd530214849 2013Semi-finals4th5302159116 2014Semi-finals3rd5302196107 2015Champions1st550019163 20165th place5th540122386 2017Champions1st550028292 2018Semi-finals4th530217384 20197th place7th530216196 20237th place7th5302188150 2024Semi-finals3rd5401182152 2025Runners-up2nd540117095 20263rd place3rd5401182114 Total 16/16 6 titles 80 64 0 16 3,248 1,389

Oceania Rugby U20 Championship record YearRoundPosition 2015Champions1st330015743 2016Champions1st21015435 2017Champions1st330018632 2018Champions1st330019543 2019Runners-up2nd320114043 2022Champions1st330017526 Total 6/6 5 titles 17 15 0 2 907 222

U20 Rugby Championship record YearRoundPosition 2024Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 92 58 2025Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 152 95 2026Runners-Up 2nd 3 1 1 1 80 83 Total 3/3 2 titles 9 5 3 1 324 236

Players Recent squads 2026 On 9 June 2026, a 30-player squad was announced for the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship in Georgia.

PlayerPositionRegion/ProvinceAlani FakavaHooker, Josh FindlayHooker, Xavier Leota Hooker, Alexander HewittProp, Dane JohnstonProp, James MooreProp, Henry StuartProp, Ethan WebberProp, Max FaleLock, John FalloonLock, Jake FrostLock, Kobe BrownleeLoose forward, Micah FaleLoose forward, Jake HutchingsLoose forward, Patrick MaugaLoose forward, Bradley TockerLoose forward, Caleb WoodleyLoose forward, Jackson HughanHalfback, Boston KroneHalfback, Charlie SintonHalfback, Cohen NorrieFirst five-eighth, Mika MuliainaFirst five-eighth, David LewaiMidfield back, Siale PahuluMidfield back, Triumph VoiceMidfield back, Haki WisemanMidfield back, Lautasi EtualeOutside back, Oliver GuerinOutside back, Kele LasaqaOutside back, Logan WilliamsOutside back,

Non-travelling reserves Charlie Wallis, Luka Makata, Emori Balenaisa, Jericho Wharehinga, Nate Bodle, Zac Taulapapa, Alex Arnold, Logan Platt, Drew Berg-McLean, Charlie Sullivan, Jimmy Taylor, Angus Revell, JD Van der Westhuizen, Jay Reihana, Noah Rogers.

Award winners The following New Zealand U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008: + World Rugby Junior Player of the Year Year Nominees Winners 2008 Luke Braid Luke Braid Chris Smith 2009 Aaron Cruden Aaron Cruden Winston Stanley 2010 Tyler Bleyendaal Julian Savea Julian Savea 2011 Sam Cane — Luke Whitelock 2013 Ardie Savea 2014 Tevita Li 2015 Akira Ioane Tevita Li (2) 2016 Shaun Stevenson 2017 Tiaan Falcon Will Jordan

Coaches Due to the U20 category only existing since the combining of the U19 and U21 age groups in 2007, the following table only includes coaches appointed since. In the inaugural tournament in 2008, Dave Rennie and Russell Hilton-Jones served as co-coaches in charge of the team. Craig Philpott is the longest serving coach. Jarrad Hoeata and Alex Robertson are the current co-head coaches.

Updated to: 19 July 2025

Coach Tenure Dave Rennie 2008 5 5 0 0 Russell Hilton-Jones Dave Rennie 2009–2010 10 10 0 0 Mark Anscombe 2011 5 5 0 0 Rob Penney 2012 5 3 0 2 Chris Boyd 2013–2014 10 6 0 4 Scott Robertson 2015–2016 15 13 0 2 Craig Philpott 2017–2019 24 19 0 5 Tom Donnelly 2022 3 3 0 0 Clark Laidlaw 2023 7 4 0 3 Jono Gibbes 2024 8 6 1 1 Milton Haig 2025 3 2 1 0 Jarrad Hoeata 2025– 5 4 0 1 Alex Robertson

See also New Zealand national schoolboy rugby union team New Zealand national under-19 rugby union team New Zealand national under-21 rugby union team Junior All Blacks

References

External links