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Baby Blacks win junior champs
From correspondents in Swansea, Wales
June 23, 2008 NEW Zealand ran in four tries to record a comfortable 38-3 win over England in the final of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-20 world championship at Liberty Stadium.
Kade Poki, Jackson Willison, Andre Taylor and Ryan Crotty scored the Baby Blacks' tries, with a penalty from Alex Goode the only response from an England side out-muscled by the pre-tournament favourites.
The Kiwis, who won last year's incarnation of this tournament - the U-19 competition in Belfast, once again impressed their credentials as the best team on display, producing a disciplined team performance with flashes of trademark flair.
England, unbeaten all season and the Grand Slam champions, started brightly and put the Baby Blacks under some intense pressure.
But the favourites weathered the storm and kept the scoreboard ticking over with penalties from full-back Trent Renata before their increasingly dangerous runners struck.
England replied with fly-half Goode's solitary first-half penalty and despite some bright spells, they couldn't put any more points on the board, particularly after flanker Calum Clark was sent-off for striking an opponent with nine minutes of the game to play.
The final win crowns an impressive run by the Kiwis through to the knock-out phase.
They racked up 173 points and conceded only 19 in pool games against Tonga, Argentina and Ireland, and then outplayed Wales 31-6 in the semi-final.
In the third-place play-off match, South Africa beat Wales 43-18.
AAP
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