Barbarians impress the most as New Zealand age-group rugby teams run riot

Three New Zealand representative rugby teams secured dominant victories on the opening matchday of the national U18 pathways programme at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton. Māori U18 Ngā Whatukura started the day with a 59-6 victory over Samoa U18, while New Zealand Barbarians U18 overwhelmed Tonga U18 89-0. New Zealand Schools closed out the matches with an 88-0 shutout against Waikato U19s, contributing to a total of 236 unanswered points across the three fixtures.

Across the Tasman on Friday, Australia U18 also recorded a lopsided result by defeating Australian Schoolboys 62-19. The opening matches served as preparation for upcoming games on Wednesday at the same Hamilton venue, where New Zealand Schools will face Australia Schools, New Zealand Barbarians play Australia U18, and Māori U18 take on Waikato U19.