The Baby Blacks have started their World Rugby U20s championship campaign with an emphatic 67-0 win over minnows Japan in Narbonne, France this morning.
You can watch all the action live on TVNZ DUKE or online on TVNZ OnDemand here .
FULLTIME - NZ 67 Japan 0
80 mins - NZ 67 Japan 0
TRY! Jamie Spowart makes up for his mistake in the 76th minute and scores a hat-trick. Japan's attempted clearance kick is charged down and Spowart pounces on the loose ball.
Kaleb Trask's conversion attempt hits the uprights.
76 mins - NZ 62 Japan 0
NO TRY! The Baby Blacks try a kick pass out to the right wing but Jamie Spowart can't hold onto the ball.
69 mins - NZ 62 Japan 0
New Zealand lock John Akau'ola-Laula looks to have injured his knee and the crowd applaud as he walks off the field with the team medic.
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
NO TRY! Kaleb Trask is denied a try after the officials rule that the Japanese player grounded the ball before the Baby Blacks first-five could get to the ball.
61 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
TRY! New Zealand's offloading game is causing all sorts of problems for Japan. The Baby Blacks shift the ball quickly from left to right with captain Tom Christie making a great catch after a kick pass from reserve back Harry Plummer.
Christie links up with his right winger Jamie Spowart who has scored two tries in two minutes.
Kaleb Trask is offline with his conversion attempt from out wide.
58 mins - NZ 57 JAPAN 0
TRY! New Zealand show great skills to recognise the mismatch out wide, Kaleb Trask fires a floating pass to teammate Jamie Spowart who throws a dummy before putting the foot down to score down the right flank.
Trask makes no mistakes with his kick at goal.
53 mins - NZ 50 JAPAN 0
TRY! John Akau'ola-Laula powers over to score from close range after some great lead up work from the Baby Blacks forwards. The NZ side have now scored eight tries and have hit the 50 mark.
Kaleb Trask fires his kick over the uprights.
49 mins - NZ 43 JAPAN 0
New Zealand are guilty at the moment of forcing the pass when it is not on, the wet conditions aren't helping with both teams struggling to hold onto the ball.
41 mins - NZ 43 JAPAN 0
TRY! New Zealand's halfback Xavier Roe gets a well deserved try after he stripped the off a Japanese defender. Roe makes the steal and pops the ball up for Bailyn Sullivan who takes the ball into contact. Sullivan then delivers the ball back to Roe who dives over to score the first try of the second half.
Roe had a hand in a number of New Zealand's tries in the first spell.
Kaleb Trask misses his attempt at goal.
40 mins - NZ 38 JAPAN 0
And we are back underway with Japan kicking off to New Zealand.
HALFTIME - NZ 38 JAPAN 0
New Zealand have got off to a fast start with six tries - late in the first spell it began to pour down with rain which proved to cause more handling errors from both teams.
40 mins - NZ 38 JAPAN 0
New Zealand's No.8 Hoskins Sotutu makes up for his mistake after he fumbled the ball to hand possession over to Japan inside his own 22. He earns his side a penalty after Japan are penalised for not releasing the ball in the ruck. Kaleb Trask taps the ball with his foot and decides that's enough for the first spell and kicks the ball into touch.
38 mins - NZ 38 JAPAN 0
TRY! This time the New Zealand side rumble it up in the forwards and their skipper Tom Christie powers over to score from close range.
Kaleb Trask finds his mark, with the ball sailing through the uprights.
34 mins - NZ 31 JAPAN 0
NO TRY! The Baby Blacks almost score another long range stunner but Hoskins Sotutu can't hold onto the ball. It all started with winger Leicester Faingaanuku who has been causing all sorts of problems for Japan down the left edge.
He steps out of several tackles before offloading the ball to flanker Tom Florence, the blindside flanker then offloads the ball to his captain Tom Christie. Christie tries to find his man Sotutu but he fumbles the ball five metres out from the try-line.
29 mins - NZ 31 JAPAN 0
Greasy conditions now as the rain starts to pour in Narbonne.
28 mins - NZ 31 JAPAN 0
NO TRY! Japan are denied a try after officials rule that their No.8 was offside when he picked up the ball at the break down.
21 mins - NZ 31 JAPAN 0
TRY! Bailyn Sullivan goes coast-to-coast. He takes the ball off the kick off and goes all the way! He breaks out of several tackles before taking on the Japanese defender himself, he palms him off with ease and dives over to score a great individual try.
Kaleb Trask is starting to find his radar landing his conversion from out wide.
19 mins - NZ 24 JAPAN 0
TRY! The Baby Blacks' halfback Xavier Roe makes another great run which started from halfway, he spots a huge hole in Japan's defensive line. Roe does enough to hold up the last defender before passing the ball to his winger Leicester Faingaanuku who scores his second try of the match.
The conversion is good by Kaleb Trask.
15 mins - NZ 17 JAPAN 0
NO TRY! Jamie Spowart is denied a try after officials rule the pass from halfback Xavier Roe was forward. Spowart ran an exceptional line after a well worked line-out from the New Zealand side, Roe popped the ball to Spowart who showed great footwork to beat the last Japan defender before crossing the try-line.
10 mins - NZ 17 JAPAN 0
TRY! Kaleb Trask puts in a clever grubber kick and the ball bounces up perfectly for NZ Sevens star Vilimoni Koroi who snatches the ball away from the Japanese fullback's grasp. He jogs over to score New Zealand's third try of the match.
Kaleb Trask nails his first conversion of the match from easier range than his previous kicks.
4 mins - NZ 10 JAPAN 0
TRY! The New Zealand team over again for their second try. NZ's halfback Xavier Roe makes a sneaky break and marches his way into Japan's 22 and he delivers a perfect offload for his winger Leicester Faingaanuku who does spectacular to stay in the field of play and touch down in the left hand corner.
Kaleb Trask misses his conversion attempt from out wide.
1 mins - NZ 5 JAPAN 0
TRY! After 50 seconds of play New Zealand's lock Will Tucker finishes off a great play by the Baby Blacks. The forwards showing great ball handling skills to shift the ball from right to left and Tucker dives over the left edge to score the first try of the match.
The conversion is no good from Kaleb Trask.
KICK-OFF! And we are underway! New Zealand opt ot go deep off the kick off.
PRE-MATCH:
The New Zealand side are looking to defend their title when the tournament kicks off next week. (Source: Other)
New Zealand are the defending champions, defeating England in the final last year 64-17 in Georgia.
The Baby Blacks were unbeaten in the Oceania Rugby Championship, where they defeated Australia 43-28 in the final earlier this month.
New Zealand Sevens star Vilimoni Koroi has been named to start at fullback.
John Akau’ola switched from league to union three years ago and is set to represent NZ at the World Rugby Championship U20 in France (Source: Other)
TEAM:
BABY BLACKS : 1. Xavier Numia, 2. Flynn Thomas, 3. Tevita Mafileo, 4. John Akau'ola-Laula, 5. Will Tucker, 6. Tom Florence, 7. Tom Christie, 8. Hoskins Sotutu, 9. Xavier Roe, 10. Kaleb Trask, 11. Leicester Faingaanuku, 12. Billy Proctor, 13. Bailyn Sullivan, 14. Jamie Spowart, 15. Vilimoni Koroi.
RESERVES: 16. Ricky Jackson, 17. Sione Asi, 18. Rob Cobb, 19. Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa, 20. Will Tremain, 21. Jay Renton, 22. Harry Plummer, 23. Scott Gregory.
1 min - NZ 5 JAPAN 0
53 mins - NZ 50 JAPAN 0
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
66 mins - NZ 62 JAPAN 0
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