Oceania Junior Championship
Australia, NZ Under 20s off to strong starts
ESPN Staff
May 2, 2015

Australia and New Zealand have registered opening victories at the Oceania Under 20 tournament on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

Originally delayed from Friday because of inclement the weather affecting Queensland, both sides had little trouble in accounting for Samoa and Japan, respectively.

The Aussies were made to work a little harder than their trans-Tasman rivals in a 33-10 over the Pacific Islanders. The locals scored four tries to two in an effort that pleased coach Adrian Thompson. "It was a good first half, it got scrappy in the second half, but I'm happy with the effort in the first half," he said. "Our forwards did well, I think Samoa have put in a lot of resources into their program this year and they were a lot better than they were at this stage last year. I think they will be a big challenge when we play them at the first game at the World Championships."

The Junior All Blacks made light work of Japan to confirm their status as one of the favourites for next months' Junior World Championship in Italy. The New Zealanders had far too much class for the minnows, running out 75-0 winners.

The next round of matches will take place on Tuesday.

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