The New Zealand Under 20s will be playing for the minor placings at the World Championship in England, and they have only themselves to blame.
For the first time since the tournament started in 2008, the five-time champion New Zealanders missed the semifinals.
They could thank a 79th minute Jordie Barrett penalty goal for snatching an 18-17 win over Wales in their final pool game, meaning they finished second behind Ireland in Pool A. But then they sat in the stands, nervously taking updates on the Pool C decider between South Africa and France, in which the Baby Boks scored a 40-31 bonus point win to snatch the best second placed qualifying berth.
New Zealand, in truth, did not deserve to reach the top four, decisively outplayed by Ireland four days ago and then far too inaccurate against Wales.
In greasy conditions, again unsuited to their expansive style of play, New Zealand made heavy weather of their game plan against a limited but far more accurate Wales, the Under 20 Six Nations champions. Scott Robertson's charges did score two tries to one, and tried to be more direct than in the defeat to Ireland, but could get little of their game going and made a stack of unforced errors, such as putting kickoffs out on the full, while struggling to combat the Welsh line speed.
