World Rugby u20 Trophy – Day Three Preview

Two rounds are now in the books and realistically there are two spots yet to be sorted for the finals. Pool A has been all but sorted with Japan only requiring a single bonus point against Kenya to clinch their spot in the Final. Meanwhile it’s a dead heat in Pool B as Portugal and Tonga square off in a de facto Semi Final contest.

All matches are regular 80 minute games but the entire 26-man roster is permitted to be named for each match. Of those any 8 can be used as substitutes.  All matches will be streamed live on World Rugby’s media channels (Facebook / YouTube), with Band Sports streaming over YouTube in Brazil.

 

HONG KONG vs CANADA

Both sides are winless heading into the match with Canada ahead by way of two bonus points. The North Americans will need at least a draw against the Junior Dragons to claim a spot in the fifth-place final, and they will have to do so without injured trio Mike McCarthy, Reid Davis, and Avery Oitomen.

HONG KONG
1 Nick McGrory, 2 Callum Tam, 3 Rory Cinnamond, 4 Sam Tsoi, 5 James Rivers, 6 Ollie Overman, 7 Joseph Knight, 8 Hugo Darke-Christopher, 9 Pat Laidler, 10 Tiarnan Neville, 11 Sam Down, 12 Kyle Kitney, 13 Lucas Lacamp, 14 William Panday, 15 Paul Altier (capt.)

Replacements: 16 Cheuk-Wai Ng, 17 Man-Chun Tang, 18 Mikkel Christensen, 19 Kyle McCallum, 20 Jonathan Howells, 21 Tomek Tsang, 22 Henry Poon, 23 Thaddeus Summers, 24 Oliver Duffy, 25 Julian Onderwater

CANADA
1 Stefan Zuliani, 2 David Carson, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Frank Carson, 5 Tyler Duguid, 6 Quentin James, 7 Mason Flesch, 8 Nick Carson, 9 Will Percillier (capt.), 10 Brock Webster, 11 Antoine de la Fontaine, 12 Lachlan Kratz, 13 Quinn Ngawati, 14 David Richard, 15 Thomas Isherwood

Replacements: 16 Jared Augustin, 17 Josh Tweed, 18 Guerschom Mukendi, 19 Siaki Vikilani, 20 Jack Carson, 21 Will Matthews, 22 Gabriel Casey, 23 Jarvis Dashkewytch

Date: Wednesday, July 17
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 12:00 local (8:00 Pacific, 11:00 Eastern)
Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (UAR)
Assistants: Cauã Ricardo (CBRu) & Frank Méndez (FERUCHI)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

TONGA vs PORTUGAL

The biggest match of the day sees two undefeated sides vying for a place in the final. Tonga narrowly defeated Canada before steamrolling Hong Kong. Portugal had a similar result against Hong Kong but were comfortable winners over Canada, pulling away in the final quarter. The physicality of the Tongans will be a new challenge for Portugal.

TONGA
1 Apitoni Toia, 2 Falamani Mafi, 3 Tevita Sole, 4 Solomone Fono, 5 Aisea Maksini, 6 Tupou Afungia, 7 Roy Lolesio, 8 Lopini Kioa, 9 Siaosi Nai, 10 Filipe Samate, 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Malakai Uasi (capt.), 13 Rodney Tongotea, 14 Lisiate Folau, 15 Hateni Tafolo

Replacements: 16 Lisivani Tuifua, 17 Mafi Fifita, 18 Mesake Toumohuni, 19 Otunuku Pauta, 20 Lote Fakatou, 21 Alan Tukuafu, 22 Tu’atao Savou, 23 Hesitoni Fa, 24 Mordecai Pulu, 25 Pita Halaifonua

PORTUGAL
1 David Costa, 2 Rodrigo Bento, 3 António Cunha, 4 Sebastião Silva, 5 Martim Belo, 6 Manuel Maia, 7 Manuel Pinto, 8 José Roque (capt.), 9 Joaquim Félix, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 11 Francisco Rosa, 12 José Do Carmo, 13 Rodrigo Marta, 14 Raffaele Storti, 15 Simão Bento

Replacements: 16 Márcio Pinheiro, 17 Duarte Conde, 18 Frederico Simões, 19 André Gouveia, 20 José Madeira, 21 Helano Alberto, 22 Pedro Lucas, 23 Tomás Lamboglia, 24 João Vieira, 25 José Santos, 26 Francisco Salgado

Date: Wednesday, July 17
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 14:00 local (10:00 Pacific, 13:00 Eastern)
Referee: Damián Schneider (UAR)
Assistants: Gonzalo Ventoso (URU) & Cauã Ricardo (CBRu)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

JAPAN vs KENYA

It should be a mere formality for Japan to clinch their spot in the final. Having beaten contenders Uruguay on Saturday, it’s Kenya who are the final obstacle in the pool stage. The Chipu needed a last-second penalty goal from Dominic Coulson to beat Brazil. Upsetting the Baby Blossoms is a herculean task.

JAPAN
1 Gun Tajima, 2 Daiki Nishiyama, 3 Syohei Tsujimura, 4 Kouki Matsumoto, 5 Ohgi Yanamoto, 6 Akito Okui, 7 Hayato Fukunishi, 8 Shota Fukui (capt.), 9 Ryota Tomoike, 10 Takumi Aoki, 11 Moeki Fukushi, 12 Taihei Kusaka, 13 Tomoki Osada, 14 Halatoa Vailea, 15 Keita Inayoshi

Replacements: 16 Terutaka Oka, 17 Yota Kamimori, 18 Sho Maeda, 19 Mamoru Harada, 20 Takamasa Maruo, 21 Kaisei Tamura, 22 Ryuto Fukuyama, 23 Futo Yamaguchi, 24 Ryosuke Kawase

KENYA
1 Andrew Siminyu, 2 Bonface Ochieng (capt.), 3 Ian Masheti, 4 Emanuel Silungi, 5 Hibrahim Ayoo, 6 Samuel Were, 7 Brian Amaitsa, 8 George Kyriazi, 9 Barry Robinson, 10 Dominic Coulson, 11 Timothy Okwemba, 12 John Okoth, 13 James McGreevy, 14 Geoffrey Okwach, 15 Andrew Matoka

Replacements: 16 Wilfred Waswa, 17 Ian Njenga, 18 Rotuk Rahedi, 19 Collins Obure, 20 Frank Aduda, 21 Sheldon Kahi, 22 Samuel Asati, 23 Owain Ashley, 24 Jeff Mutuku, 25 Douglas Kahuri

Date: Wednesday, July 17
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 17:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistants: Gonzalo Ventoso (URU) & Matías Esteban (URU)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

URUGUAY vs BRAZIL

The Teritos came up short in their all-important match against Japan and are now resigned to a third-place final. Brazil suffered a heart-breaking defeat to Kenya but can still book a place in the fifth-place final if they can somehow upset Uruguay. Given the results of the South American Championship that seems highly unlikely.

URUGUAY
1 Santiago Bonasso, 2 Carlos Gruss, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 Juanjuan Garese (capt.), 5 Carlos Deus, 6 Maxime Sonneveld, 7 Tomás Pollio, 8 Santiago Nicolich, 9 Ignacio Rodríguez, 10 Federico Slinger, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Manuel Barreiro, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Juan Pablo Costabile, 15 Santiago del Cerro

Replacements: 16 Juan Martín Rippe, 17 Ezequiel Ramos, 18 Faustino Etchegorry, 19 Reinaldo Piussi, 20 Felipe Aliaga, 21 Felipe Lombardo, 22 José Iruleguy, 23 Matías D’Avanzo, 24 Alfonso Cat

BRAZIL
1 Naassom Porto (capt.), 2 Felipe Quevedo, 3 Marcos de Melo, 4 Filippo Bugno, 5 Gabriel Oliviera, 6 Weslley Barbosa, 7 Henrique Da Silva, 8 João Furst, 9 Carlos Proença, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Gerónimo Olivares, 12 Alisson Kalkmann, 13 Guylherme Rangel, 14 Murillo Bonesso, 15 Carlos Moura

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Da Silva, 17 Matheus Diniz, 18 Henrique Ribeiro, 19 Rafael Dos Santos, 20 Matheus de Oliviera, 21 Adrio de Melo, 22 Joel Santos, 23 Felipe Cunha, 24 Vicent Quirino, 25 Gabriel Quirino, 26 Luiz Octávio Nunes

Date: Wednesday, July 17
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 19:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Referee: Luke Rogan (USAR)
Assistants: Frank Méndez (FERUCHI) & Matías Esteban (URU)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube