It's not often an NZ rep rugby side gets beaten twice in a row, much less given absolute hidings in both games. But that's what happened a couple of weeks ago at Viking Park in Canberra, as the New Zealand Schoolboys got schooled by a bigger, more experienced and better prepared Australian under-18 side.
The 81-48 and 55-33 scorelines make for stark reading and have immediately sent alarm bells ringing. First of all, it's important to note the players involved are still at school and therefore should not be subjected to the sort of intense personal scrutiny that comes with other black jersey teams, so this is firmly about the system itself that put them in that position.
Especially because this is not the first time this issue has been brought up this year. And, for once, NZ Rugby (NZR) finds itself firmly in the position of being able to say it tried to fix the issue in advance.
Aus U18 score another try on the way to beating the NZ Schoolboys. Photo: ActionPress
A quick recap: back in March, NZR announced the formation of a national U18 side, which would effectively replace the existing NZ Schoolboys team. The move was justified as necessary as their main opponents, Australia, had already done so.
The move was met with a very vocal pushback by the secondary schools rugby fraternity, with a number of principals from high profile rugby schools signing a letter that said, among other things, that the U18 team sent "a strong signal that our collective input into NZR, through the secondary school game, is not valued".
NZR backed down, the Schoolboys side was sent to play the Australians instead, and got trounced. So while there must be a feeling of 'we told you so' at NZR, unsurprisingly the overriding general emotion is shock.
"We were pretty optimistic going into those games, so there is a little bit of 'shit we didn't see that coming'," said Ben Fisher, high performance pathways manager at NZR.
"There's a few different factors that contribute to where they are as opposed to where we are. There's a process now to work with the schools, which we're committed to doing. What can the provincial unions do to help the players from what is a pretty decent step up from school rugby to that international stage, especially when they (Australia) have players that are already in Super team environments."
NZ Schoolboys coaching staff. Photo: ActionPress
Australian rugby now has regular age grade competition from their Super Rugby sides, putting out U16, U18, U19 and U20 teams. By contrast, involvement in NZ Super Rugby sides only starts at U20 level. While it seems like a massive head start, especially considering the recent U18 results, the feeling in Australia is one of cautious optimism rather than planning when their players will be involved in a Bledisloe Cup return parade.
"They clearly have points in them, the pathway system has improved dramatically in recent years because it was pretty poor for a while," said Australian rugby journalist Christy Doran, who credits former Wallaby Peter Horne with turning that space around.
"Horne's been a lot more proactive in locking in schoolboy talent, they're getting their house in order - although it is worth mentioning that the 2019 Australian schoolboys side won comfortably against New Zealand and had the likes of (current Wallabies) Josh Flook, Tom Hooper, Billy Pollard and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii."
However, just the mention of Suaalii highlights the issue at the other end of the pathway Australian rugby will always face in a much greater degree than their NZ counterparts. After starring for the schools side, Suaalii promptly signed with the Sydney Roosters and it's famously cost the Wallabies $5 million to get him back.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Australia celebrates with teammates after scoring a try. Photo: Photosport
Doran said that situation around this year's Australian U18 side will be no different, projecting that around half will leave to either play league or, in the case of star Heinz Lemoto, a French rugby deal. But while that's something that will likely never go away, Doran maintains that they'd rather be where they are than their trans-Tasman counterparts.
"The feeling over here is that New Zealand has become complacent in terms of pathways," he said.
However, it's important to note that the more relevant pathway team to Super Rugby Pacific and ultimately the All Blacks, the NZ U20 side, is coming off a strong showing in 2025. They won the U20 Rugby Championship and made the final of the World Championship before losing to a strong South African side, clearly showing that the program is bouncing back after being affected massively by the pandemic disruption.
"Having the Rugby Championship gives us three games to assess the team before we go to the Junior World Cup…for us to have that is gold. Having Super Rugby U20s, 150-160 players going at it…that's giving more guys opportunities," said Francis.
The NZ U20s team performs the haka against South Africa. Photo: Federico Zovadelli / action press
Then there's the not so insignificant fact that Australia lacks a provincial competition. The provides young New Zealand players a crucial step between club and Super Rugby, both on and off the field as it involves development academies and immediate financial incentives. Fisher is adamant that it's there that young players will be developed.
"There are players who come through the (First XV) system, but then there's a whole lot you don't know about. I think the provincial union U18s are still relevant, because we get guys that pop up through the academies, into the NPC and become professional players."
So what now for the team in question though? Does NZR put the U18 side back on the table, with the now very compelling leverage that if the principals don't play ball, the Schoolboys side will probably continue to get humiliated annually by an Australian team playing a level up?
"We will continue to work with the schools on how we can take learnings from this year," said Fisher, who added that the team would go through a review process, but pointed out that the feedback so far on the coaching staff from the players was entirely positive.
"I'm sure the schools are sitting there thinking they don't want their players on the receiving end of scores like that. So they'll be supportive of making change, I'm sure. What that change looks like, we'll just try and work through with them. Whether that means the U18 conversation comes up again or whether we need to get better alignment in key areas."
One thing is for sure, though. Any time a team in a black jersey suffers a loss this bad it still has the power to grab the public's attention, no matter what the level.
"That group (of players) is better than those results, I'm confident of that," said Francis.
"You'll see a huge amount of those players going through to the U20s, there's some bloody good talent there."
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