Kiwis change one for U20 Final
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson made one change to the starting 15 for the Under-20 World Cup Final.
The Kiwis take on two-time defending champions England in Cremona, Italy, on Saturday.
"We've been forced to make a change, with James Blackwell being ruled out with a head knock," explained Robertson.
"That brings Mitch Jacobson on to the bench and Mitch Dunshea starts."
The New Zealand players made the most of the last four days in the lead-up to the final and Robertson believes his team is in a good space.
"We've had a good week: we've got to get our bodies right and our minds ready, so we can perform on the bigger stage," he explained.
"Our focus this week has been making sure we're really clear on how we're going to play and who we're playing. We obviously need to understand how England execute, but probably the biggest thing is to make sure we're in a really good mindset to perform."
New Zealand dominated the French during their comfortable semifinal win this past Monday.
France's only try was once again the result of a powerful catch and drive from a line-out, which seems to be the biggest challenge for New Zealand during this tournament.
"We managed to split the French rolling mauls and at key times defend pretty stoutly in our line-out. We took a lot of their spirit away," acknowledged Robertson.
"We're going to have to be that good again against a well-drilled English pack. England are very well structured and well coached, and they've got a lot of systems that work. They've shown that when they execute, they're an extremely tough team to beat.
"The rolling maul is a real strength of theirs and our ability to make sure we can stop it and commit, and compete in that area is critical for us."
Robertson is acutely aware that the only four tries scored against his team during this championship have been the result of short-range drives.
"We've had a lot of maul practice during this World Cup and that's been a real focus for us," he said.
New Zealand Under-20: 15 Mitchell Hunt, 14 Jack Goodhue, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Tinoai Faiane, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Otere Black, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Mitchell Dunshea, 5 Hamish Dalzell, 4 Joshua Goodhue, 3 Atunaisa Moli (captain), 2 Liam Polwart, 1 Ricky Riccitelli.
Replacements: 16 Steven Misa, 17 Isileli Tu'ungafasi, 18 Tau Koloamatangi, 19 Mitchell Jacobson, 20 Henry Stowers, 21 Harrison Levien, 22 Vincent Tavae-Aso, 23 George Bridge.
Date: Saturday, June 20
Venue: Stadio Giovanni Zini, Cremona
Kick-off: 20.30 (18.30 GMT; 05.30 Sunday, June 21 NZ time)
Referee: Will Houston (Australia)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
