The Carmarthen Quins and Scarlets lock has been a key component of the Welsh pack during the tournament and despite the line-out misfiring on a wet and windy morning in Rosario, Wales somehow conjured victory from the jaws of defeat when Baby Blacks fly-half Fergus Burke fired his penalty attempt wide of the uprights with the final kick of the game to hand Wales a gutsy 8-7 victory.
Jumping for joy, Price raced to celebrate with his teammates as they became just the second Welsh side to beat New Zealand at U20 level.
“It is a massive achievement and it was a great feeling at the final whistle,” said Price.
“We said before the game if we beat New Zealand it would be massive for us on our CVs as individuals and to get the victory, well, we’re over the moon.”
With New Zealand domination possession and territory, it took a herculean effort in defence to kept the black tide at bay. The Kiwis also hassled Wales at the line-out and dismantled a number of throw-ins to make life difficult for the boys in red.
“The weather conditions didn’t help us,” he said, “it was windy and the ball was like a bar of soap but New Zealand defended well in the lineout in fairness.
“But we’re a team who enjoys working for each other – every time there is positive outcome, whether it’s a tackle or turnover, everybody is in celebrating and cheering each other on.”
It was against the run of play in the first half when Wales hit the lead with a well taken try by Ospreys centre Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler who showed adept footballing skills to control the ball over the try-line to score.
“You don’t get many chances against teams like New Zealand and I think Tiaan took it really well, kicking the ball through and managing to get the ball down in the corner, maybe in the past we haven’t always taken the chances on offer so that was a good result for us,” said Price.
“New Zealand is a massive rugby nation, not many people can say they have beaten them.
“You could see the character shown by the boys, everyone was digging deep for each other, every tackle and turnover. It was a huge effort.”
A late second half converted try by New Zealand had appeared to seal victory but fly-half Cai Evans had other ideas. He held his nerve to slot the match-winning kick.
“Cai’s kicking is world-class, we rely on him so many times. I was chuffed for him that he kicked the winning penalty.”
Wales will now play Six Nations rivals England on Saturday to determine who will finish fifth in the tournament.
“It is important we don’t get over-confident,” added Price. “Maybe that is what happened in Scotland in the Six Nations We need to stick to our game-plan again and hopefully finish with another win.”
