The Junior Wallabies have taken the first Test of their two-game series against the New Zealand U20s with a 34-26 win in Wellington.
It caps a remarkable turnaround after their 69-12 defeat last July on the Sunshine Coast.
WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE FIRST TEST BETWEEN THE JUNIOR WALLABIES AND NZ U20S BELOW OR CLICK THE LINK
The win was built off the back of a dominant performance at set-piece time and a hat-trick from winger Ronan Leahy, who was called into the squad late.
The Junior Wallabies' forward pack monstered their Kiwi counterparts in the scrums, eventually earning a penalty try to open the scoring.
Captain Teddy Wilson caused headaches for the hosts the entire game, with the NSW Waratah putting together a starring performance.
He sliced through the line to put David Vaihu over the line before Rebels playmaker Mason Gordon put Leahy over for his first to take a 19-7 lead after 35 minutes.
The New Zealanders remained calm and Highlanders playmaker Finn Hurley helped reduce the margin to five at the break when he hit Canterbury winger Isaac Hutchinson with the perfect cross-field kick.
This sparked Wilson and the Junior Wallabies into life, delivering a smart grubber down the short side to Leahy to restore the 12-point lead.
Nathan Grey's side struggled to control their restarts and it allowed the hosts back into the contest, eventually finding Codemeru Vai in space in the corner.
Grey turned to his bench and found an instant spark in Leafi Talataina.
Talataina barged through the line and created a chance out of nothing for Leahy to complete his hat-trick with 20 minutes to go.
Hurley got his own try in the 67th minute to once again reduce the margin, only for Gordon to slot a timely penalty from the restart to extend the lead out past a converted.
The Junior Wallabies refused to break despite two late yellow cards, coming up with several heroic defensive plays on their line.
It allowed the visitors to close out the match and take a 1-0 series lead into Saturday's final game in Wellington.
"As a 1st hit out for the squad it was pleasing to transfer many of the things we were after and the players were determined to deliver," Grey said after the win.
"Plenty to improve moving into the second warm up game this weekend at Sky Stadium where NZ will no doubt be an improved beast, as will we.
"Our set piece was dominant and laid a good foundation for our backs to create some opportunities and convert a few.Big recovery focus now as we look to emulates the 5 day turnarounds that we will face at the JWC.
"Proud of the players and staff."
Junior Wallabies 34 (TRIES: Ronan Leahy 3, David Vaihu, Penatly try; CONS: Jack Bowen 2 con; PENS: Mason Gordon) def New Zealand U20s: 26 (TRIES: Malachi Wrampling-Alec, Isaac Hutchinson, Codemeru Vai, Finn Hurley; CONS: Riley Williams 3
HT: 19-14
