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Canada will look to seal their place at the World Rugby u20 Trophy when they host the USA in the second leg of their North American qualifier series at Shawnigan Lake School on Saturday. The first leg ended with a 44-33 score, meaning the Junior All-Americans begin the game with an 11-point deficit to make up.
Despite the disappointment of defeat, coach Scott Bracken has kept the faith with his charges by naming a side with only one change in the starting lineup. Jasper Green gets the call on the wing in place of Junior Waqavesi who drops to the bench. The only other change to the match day squad sees Jake Christmann taking over from Royce Fisher as reserve scrumhalf.
Jeff Williams has similarly named a near-identical Canadian roster with the only changes made by necessity. Openside flanker Mason Flesch and fullback Avery Oitomen are ruled out due to concussion protocol and are replaced by Will Matthews and Thomas Isherwood respectively. Scrumhalf Jack Carson and second row Brandon Hebert have been added to the bench.
The All-Americans struggled in the scrum on Tuesday and will need to make adjustments to avoid penalties and scrappy possession on their own put-in. Ryan James and Sam Walsh looked dangerous with ball in hand, while Jack Manzo and Bailey Wilson also impressed.
On the other side the USA will have to find a way to shut down Canada’s star backline players. Will Percillier and Quinn Ngawati scored two tries each while Brock Webster and David Richard also caused problems when given space. The loss of Oitomen is unfortunate but Isherwood proved his value with a try-saving tackle on Manzo late in the game.
The USA have traditionally been stronger in the second leg of the series, and Canada has not won both legs of the qualifier series since 2015. Expect another exciting and high-scoring affair, but the pressure is all on the All-Americans to come up with a big performance away from home.
Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, 8pm Eastern. Live streams will be available on Facebook and YouTube.
CANADA u20
1 Stefan Zuliani, 2 Jared Augustin, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Frank Carson, 5 Tyler Duguid, 6 Quentin James, 7 Will Matthews, 8 Nick Carson, 9 Will Percillier (capt.), 10 Brock Webster, 11 Jarvis Dashkewytch, 12 Quinn Ngawati, 13 Gabriel Casey, 14 David Richard, 15 Thomas Isherwood
Replacements: 16 Mike McCarthy, 17 Josh Tweed, 18 Guerschom Mukendi, 19 Reid Davis, 20 Siaki Vikilani, 21 Jack Carson, 22 James Biss, 23 Antoine de la Fontaine, 24 David Carson, 25 Brandon Hebert, 26 Austin Pinnell
USA u20
1 Jack Wiles, 2 Jack Manzo, 3 Jared Miller, 4 Sam Golla, 5 Asa Carter, 6 Chase Jones, 7 Miles McCormick, 8 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 9 Ethan McVeigh, 10 Mike Weir, 11 Jasper Green, 12 Lauina Falatea, 13 Jack Wendling, 14 Ryan James, 15 Sam Walsh
Replacements: 16 Braden Looper, 17 Doug Mitchell, 18 Alex Lopeti, 19 Matt Gelhaus, 20 Chris Noggle, 21 Jeff Peleseuma-Breiz, 22 Junior Waqavesi, 23 Cole Semu, 24 Will Vakalahi, 25 Luke Freeman, 26 Jake Christmann
Date: Saturday, June 8
Venue: Shawnigan Lake School
Kickoff: 5pm local / 8pm ET
Broadcasts: Facebook, YouTube
