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A Teddy Wilson-inspired effort has seen the Junior Wallabies topple the New Zealand under-20s in a brilliant start to their World Cup year in Wellington.
Despite losing two men to the sin bin in the final quarter, Nathan Grey’s side held on to claim a character-filled win 34-26 in the wet to start their tour-match tour in style.
Winger Ronan Leahy scored a hat-trick in the five tries to four victory.
Junior Wallabies captain Teddy Wilson was on fire during his side’s win over New Zealand in Wellington. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
After a dominant scrum and saw No.8 John Bryant score the opening try, Wilson helped turn the screws on his opponents.
The 20-year-old threw an audacious dummy and then set off, beating some lazy defenders around the ruck before throwing a beautiful left-to-right pass to inside centre David Vaihu to score.
Some slick hands from the Junior Wallabies, including a lovely cut out from Jack Bowen, then saw Leahy grab his first try.
After a seesawing first half, Wilson then showed why many are excited by the burgeoning halfback as he shaped to the right after collecting Bryant’s pass on the openside of the scrum before running to the blindside and dropping the ball on the toe for Leahy to run onto to score.
It was yet another clever play as he sucked in his opposite halfback to open the space to run into.
The Junior Wallabies then showed their composure as Bryant burst through New Zealand’s defence, recycled quickly for Wilson to free up his halves partner Bowen to run into before some neat hands saw Leahy complete his double.
Grey’s men came under some massive pressure when replacement tight-head prop Nick Bloomfield was shown a yellow card for an early push at the maul before his front-rower partner Liam Bowron joined him after a lifting tackle.
Liam Bowron was shown a yellow card for a lifting tackle on Malachi Wrampling-Alec of New Zealand during the Junior Wallabies’ win at NZCIS on May 29, 2023 in Wellington. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
But after some clutch defence, Wilson finished the game by kicking the ball out and sealing a memorably first-up victory.
The Junior Wallabies will take on New Zealand’s under-20 side on Saturday, before heading to South Africa for the under-20s World Cup next month.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.