France beats New Zealand

It is rare for a French XV to be favorite before facing New Zealand. However, the Blues bounced back perfectly on Thursday during the second day of the U-20 World Cup in South Africa. Already big winners over the Japanese (75-12), captain Lenny Noshi's teammates dominated the Baby Black team, in the rain and on a broken Paarl court (35-14). They actually led 21-0 at half-time, after tries from Teo Atesogbe (9th), Busolo Tuilagi (21st) and Baptiste Gounou (32nd).

The same Tuilagi worsened the scoreline shortly after the start of the second half (44th place) still on a carried ball. He missed the first match because he was detained in France due to a visa problem, and the huge second lineman from Perpignan (1.92 m, 145 kg) was the embodiment of the French group's defeat.

Coming from a famous family of rugby players, including his father Henry, a former Samoa international, Junior was born in 2004 and thus was surpassed in the middle of the 2003 generation… more than promising for a keen French rugby player. On the “big guys”. “Like Emmanuel Mivo of Toulouse, who will ultimately not be selected for the Senior World Cup in France.

Welsh before the semi-finals

The young Frenchman's second period was less impressive than the first, as he received two yellow cards for Jonod (52) and Paul Custis (58), while rival winger Maka Springer could have received a red card instead of a yellow for his forward elbow on Atesogbe's flute (54). . The Baby Blacks took advantage of the slowdown to score two tries (penalty in the 59th minute, Lakai in the 66th minute), before Liufau (68th) gave the Bleuets some breathing room.

The double champions, who won in 2018 and 2019 before the long four-year hiatus due to Covid, are the most prominent candidates to achieve the treble. They will now face Wales on Tuesday, the final day of the group, before the semi-finals.