New Zealand has been denied a spot in the semi-finals of the under-20 Rugby World Cup despite finishing pool play with a 62-19 win over Japan.
The big win - spearheaded by a hat-trick to Crusaders wing Macca Springer - ultimately fell short of the points differential the Baby Blacks needed to generate to reach the semi-finals with previous results coming back to haunt them.
Their comeback win over Wales [27-26] and heavy defeat to France [35-14] last week left New Zealand with a mountain to climb in their final pool match but they had every chance to sneak in to the semis.
The top four of the tournament is decided by the top nations from each of the three pools as well as the best second-placed team - New Zealand entering this morning's match targeting the latter with France wrapping up the top spot of Group A.
They also knew exactly what they needed to score in order to make it with England giving them a window to advance having just wrapped up a 22-22 draw with Australia that left them on 10 points in Pool B.
That meant New Zealand - sitting on five points in Pool A - needed a bonus point win and with it a scoreline differential of 67 points over Japan.
The campaign got off to the worst possible start though with Japan opening the scoring after slicing through New Zealand's midfield.
The Baby Blacks were quick to respond two minutes later but then struck another blow to Kiwi hopes in the 17th minute with another try.
But then the engine began to shift into gear with New Zealand scoring eight unanswered tries to fly out to a 57-12 lead but that was only a scoreline differential of 45 points and there were only seven minutes left in the match.
A try to Japan a minute later off a lineout drive effectively sealed the Baby Blacks' fate and left captain Noah Hotham ruing the "67 clear points" his team knew they had in them.
But handling errors at crucial moments and a lack of polish in their performance - something that has haunted coach Clark Laidlaw and the team throughout the tournament - were their undoing this morning.
It adds to a streak of undesirable results for New Zealand Rugby at the tournament with this year's finish - at best a fifth and at worst an eight depending on how they go in their placement match against Australia and then either Georgia or Wales - adding to a seventh in 2019 and fourth in 2018.
SHARE ME