u20 Trophy – Final Day Preview

The pool stage has come to a close and it’s Finals Day at the World Rugby u20 Trophy in São José dos Campos. All eight teams will be in action playing for their final placement, with Portugal attempting to upset Japan in the main event. There will be Americas teams in all but the final.

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.

 

KENYA vs CANADA

The 5th Place play-off starts the day. Kenya’s lone win was a last-second victory over hosts Brazil in the second round. The Chipu lost to Japan but gave the Baby Blossoms a good fight. Canada routed Hong Kong in their last outing and enter on a high. Mike McCarthy returns from injury with Josh Tweed and Will Matthews recalled to the run-on side.

KENYA
1 Andrew Siminyu, 2 Bonface Ochieng (capt.), 3 Rotuk Rahedi, 4 Emanuel Silungi, 5 Hibrahim Ayoo, 6 Sheldon Kahi, 7 Brian Amaitsa, 8 George Kyriazi, 9 Barry Robinson, 10 Dominic Coulson, 11 Timothy Okwemba, 12 John Okoth, 13 Douglas Kahuri, 14 Geoffrey Okwach, 15 Andrew Matoka

Replacements: 16 Wilfred Waswa, 17 Ian Njenga, 18 Collins Obure, 19 Frank Aduda, 20 James McGreevy, 21 Samuel Asati, 22 Owain Ashley, 23 Jeff Mutuku

CANADA
1 Josh Tweed, 2 Mike McCarthy, 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 Antoine de la Fontaine, 12 Lachlan Kratz, 13 Quinn Ngawati, 14 David Richard, 15 Thomas Isherwood

Replacements: 16 David Carson, 17 Stefan Zuliani, 18 Guerschom Mukendi, 19 Reid Davis, 20 Jack Carson, 21 Siaki Vikilani, 22 Mason Flesch, 23 Gabriel Casey, 24 Jarvis Dashkewytch, 25 Jared Augustin

Date: Sunday, July 21
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 12:00 local (8:00 Pacific, 11:00 Eastern)
Referee: Luke Rogan (USAR)
Assistants: Gonzalo Ventoso (URU) & Matías Esteban (URU)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

URUGUAY vs TONGA

The Teritos will be disappointed to have missed out on the final but were clearly second-best in their match against Japan. Next up is a challenging match against Tonga, though the Oceanic side failed to impress in a one-sided loss against Portugal. Uruguay have switched back to their strongest lineup though Carlos Gruss and Manuel Barreiro retain their spots at hooker and inside center respectively.

URUGUAY
1 Ezequiel Ramos, 2 Carlos Gruss, 3 Faustino Etchegorry, 4 Juanjuan Garese (capt.), 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Maxime Sonneveld, 7 Felipe Lombardo, 8 Juan Manuel Aguiar, 9 Alfonso Cat, 10 Matías D’Avanzo, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Manuel Barreiro, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Juan Pablo Costabile, 15 José Iruleguy

Replacements: 16 Juan Martín Rippe, 17 Santiago Bonasso, 18 Ignacio Péculo, 19 Reinaldo Piussi, 20 Santiago Nicolich, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Federico Slinger, 23 Santiago del Cerro, 24 Ignacio Rodríguez, 25 Tomás Pollio, 26 Alfonso Costa

TONGA
1 Apitoni Toia, 2 Lisivani Tuifua, 3 Mesake Toumohuni, 4 Lopini Kioa, 5 Solomone Fono, 6 Tupou Afungia, 7 Roy Lolesio, 8 Otunuku Pauta, 9 Siaosi Nai, 10 Filipe Samate, 11 Lote Fakatou, 12 Malakai Uasi (capt.), 13 Rodney Tongotea, 14 Lisiate Folau, 15 Taniela Filimone

Replacements: 16 Falamani Mafi, 17 Mafi Fifita, 18 Aisea Maksini, 19 Hesitoni Fa, 20 Alan Tukuafu, 21 Tu’atao Savou, 22 Mordecai Pulu, 23 Hateni Tafolo, 24 Tevita Sole, 25 Pita Halaifonua

Date: Sunday, July 21
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 14:00 local (10:00 Pacific, 13:00 Eastern)
Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (UAR)
Assistants: Cauã Ricardo (CBRu) & Frank Méndez (FERUCHI)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

BRAZIL vs HONG KONG

Avoiding last place is what these two teams will be playing for. Os Curumins were heartbroken against Kenya and desperate to get a victory in front of their home fans. Hong Kong were run off the park against a rampant Canadian side in their last match and need to find some inspiration to beat Brazil.

BRAZIL
1 Naassom Porto (capt.), 2 Leonardo Da Silva, 3 Henrique Ribeiro, 4 Matheus de Oliviera, 5 Filippo Bugno, 6 Rafael Dos Santos, 7 Henrique Da Silva, 8 Adrio de Melo (capt.), 9 Felipe Cunha, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Alisson Kalkmann, 12 Joel Santos, 13 Gabriel Quirino, 14 Vicent Quirino, 15 Murillo Bonesso

Replacements: 16 Felipe Quevedo, 17 Marcos de Melo, 18 Matheus Diniz, 19 Gabriel Oliviera, 20 Weslley Barbosa, 21 João Furst, 22 Carlos Moura, 23 Gerónimo Olivares, 24 Guylherme Rangel, 25 Luiz Octávio Nunes

HONG KONG
1 Mikkel Christensen, 2 Callum Tam, 3 Rory Cinnamond, 4 Jonathan Howells, 5 James Rivers, 6 Sam Tsoi, 7 Joseph Knight, 8 Hugo Darke-Christopher, 9 Pat Laidler, 10 Tiarnan Neville, 11 Sam Down, 12 Kyle Kitney, 13 William Panday, 14 Oliver Duffy, 15 Paul Altier (capt.)

Replacements: 16 Nick McGrory, 17 Man-Chun Tang, 18 Cheuk-Wai Ng, 19 Wai-Shing Sung, 20 Henry Poon, 21 Tomek Tsang, 22 Julian Onderwater, 23 Thaddeus Summers, 24 Kyle McCallum

Date: Sunday, July 21
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 17:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistants: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (UAR) & Frank Méndez (FERUCHI)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube

 

JAPAN vs PORTUGAL

The biggest match of the tournament comes last as Japan look to make an immediate return to the Championship. After their second-stringers floundered somewhat against Kenya, it’s the best of the Baby Blossoms to play Portugal in a rematch of the 2017 Final. On that day Japan were the better side. Can Portugal get even and earn their first trip to the big stage?

JAPAN
1 Yota Kamimori, 2 Mamoru Harada, 3 Sho Maeda, 4 Ohgi Yanamoto, 5 Ryusei Koike, 6 Halatoa Vailea, 7 Shota Fukui (capt.), 8 Takamasa Maruo, 9 Kaisei Tamura, 10 Ryuto Fukuyama, 11 Futo Yamaguchi, 12 Taihei Kusaka, 13 Tomoki Osada, 14 Yuchirou Wada, 15 Ryosuke Kawase

Replacements: 16 Daiki Nishiyama, 17 Gun Tajima, 18 Syohei Tsujimura, 19 Terutaka Oka, 20 Kouki Matsumoto, 21 Akito Okui, 22 Hayato Fukunishi, 23 Ryota Tomoike, 24 Takumi Aoki, 25 Moeki Fukushi, 26 Keita Inayoshi

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

Replacements: 16 Márcio Pinheiro, 17 António Cunha, 18 Frederico Simões, 19 André Gouveia, 20 José Madeira, 21 Sebastião Silva, 22 Pedro Lucas, 23 Tomás Lamboglia, 24 João Vieira, 25 José Santos, 26 Francisco Rosa

Date: Sunday, July 21
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 19:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Referee: Damián Schneider (UAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USAR) & Cauã Ricardo (CBRu)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube