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JD Stephenson has named his Junior All-American team to face Hong Kong in the second round of the World Rugby u20 Trophy tournament in Zimbabwe. A half-dozen changes have been made to the side that were narrowly defeated by Namibia in round one, including one enforced due to the ACL injury sustained by star center Lorenzo Thomas in game one.
Roman Salanoa gets his first start for the team, wearing the no3 shirt with Mason Pedersen rotating to the bench. Malon Al-Jiboori moves to lock with Veuki Taumoefolau running out on the blindside. Deven Marshall is named in the reserves along with new name Bronson Teles.
A new halfback combination with a South African flavor is Ruben de Haas and Duncan van Schalkwyk, with Louis Mulholland left on the bench and Ben Cima moving to fullback. Devin Lim fills the void in the midfield and there are new wingers in Travis Heer and Tyler Sousley. Rodney Giles will cover virtually the entire backline from the bench.
The match kicks off at 10am ET on Saturday and will be streamed on The Rugby Channel.
USA
1 Chance Wenglewski 2 Steven Branham 3 Roman Salanoa 4 Victor Comptat 5 Malon Al-Jiboori 6 Veuki Taumoefolau 7 Brennan Falcon 8 Hanco Germishuys (capt.) 9 Ruben de Haas 10 Duncan van Schalkwyk 11 Travis Heer 12 Brian Hannon 13 Devin Lim 14 Tyler Sousley 15 Ben Cima
16 Ruairi Van Raalte 17 Mason Pedersen 18 Bronson Teles 19 Deven Marshall 20 Chad Sneyd 21 Louis Mulholland 22 Rodney Giles
