There was a mysterious out before New Zealand’s semi-final of the World Championship U20 against France, with one key piece of the puzzle missing for the Baby Blacks.
Star All Blacks Sevens youngster Oli Mathis was missing from the starting lineup after only making one appearance in the group stage of the 2025 tournament in Italy.
Mathis, who has started the Bunnings NPC with a hiss and a roar, pulled out of the rest of the U20’s tournament last month with delayed concussion symptoms.
Speaking on the What a Lad podcast hosted by James Marshall, Mathis revealed to the listeners the cause of his injury.
“It sucked, kind of had a delayed concussion, whacked my head in the maul, and afterwards I was just vomiting and whatnot, so yeah, no good,” Mathis said.
“Yeah, so I didn’t actually feel it till, well, probably 20 minutes after the game, and then just felt crook as I was actually getting a drug test.
“I put my bag down, and then just couldn’t remember where I put it.”
Mathis what the process was like after he started getting the symptoms, and when he was ruled out of contention for the rest of the tournament.
“I probably gave it a few days just to let my head settle down, I told the doctor straight away.
“To be fair, I wasn’t that keen, but I thought, you’ve only got one head, and I’m not the smartest bloke regardless, so I thought I’d better put my head first.
“Then, I just gave it a few days’ rest, jumped on a bike and got my heart rate up, got real dizzy and started having pounding headaches, yeah, it was no good, so I had to get sent home.”
There have been countless discussions with rugby fans around where Mathis’ best position going forward is, after playing both No.7 and No.14 for Waikato in the 2025 Bunnings NPC competition.
Marshall asked Mathis where he thinks his best position is going forward, and the possibility of being a hybrid player.
“Long term, I see myself playing seven,” Mathis told Marshall on the What a Lad podcast.