New Zealand ran in four tries to record a comfortable 38-3 win over England in the final of the inaugural International Rugby Board (IRB) U20 World Championship at Liberty Stadium in Wales on Sunday.

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 U19 competition in Belfast, once again impressed their credentials as the best team on display, producing a disciplined team performance with flashes of trademark flair.

"We came here with a lot of pressure," admitted New Zealand captain Chris Smith. "But we had a lot of belief throughout the tournament.

"We backed it up superbly. A lot of hard work went into this campaign, and it's a credit to the coaches.

"We were able to grind teams down and really work on them."

Although no team got within 25 points of the New Zealanders, Smith said the final had been "a really hard game and we only really put it away in the last 20 minutes".

England captain and number eight Hugo Ellis added: "New Zealand are a fantastic side and were the better team on the day, but credit to our guys for what they've achieved this season.

"We've had two great victories in a week to get here but we suffered a bit today and there were some heavy legs out from the guys who worked so hard against South Africa and Australia."

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 fullback Trent Renata before their increasingly dangerous runners struck.

England replied with flyhalf 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 semifinal.

In the third-place play-off match, South Africa beat the Welsh 43-18.

AFP