Teritos, All-Americans win in Zimbabwe

Both Uruguay and the USA were victorious in Round 2 of the World Rugby u20 Trophy on Saturday morning. The bonus point wins put each back into final contention despite losses suffered on the opening day. With Spain defeating Namibia 40-22 and Samoa thumping Fiji 32-8, the two pools are set for dramatic winner-take-all finishes.

As is stands both Spain and Samoa are undefeated with a maximum 10 points from two games, with USA and Uruguay next up on seven points in their respective pools. Should USA defeat Spain by any margin or Uruguay beat Samoa, it should be enough to qualify for the final given that the tie-breaker in case of a points tie is the match played between the two countries.

 

URUGUAY 50 – 22 ZIMBABWE

Two tries from midfielder Iñaki Ormaechea in the opening quarter set the tone for a dominant victory over hosts Zimbabwe. Three more scores before the half, including a penalty try and one each to Martin Fitipaldo and Felipe Etcheverry, put the result in no doubt by the intermission with only a single try to Aiden Burnett going against Uruguay.

Los Teritos took their foot off the pedal in the second half, conceding two tries to fullback Tarisai Mapfumo as a raft of replacements entered the game. The Sables resurgence was short-lived, however, and Fitipaldo’s second preceded a last minute try to Yamandú Arburúas to bring up full time. Los Teritos now face Samoa on Wednesday with the winner virtually assured of a spot in the final.

URUGUAY 50
Tries – I. Ormaechea 2 (3, 15), Penalty try (30), M. Fitipaldo 2 (32, 76), F. Etcheverry (40), Y. Arburúas (79)
Cons – F. Etcheverry 2 (16, 31), L. Durán (80)

ZIMBABWE 22
Tries – A. Burnett (11), T. Mapfumo 2 (54, 63)
Cons – S. Katsvere 2 (55, 64)

URUGUAY
1 Rodrigo Lamé (Juan Cruz Codesal 53) 2 Yamandú Arburúas 3 Guillermo Pujadas (Gonzalo Couto 74) 4 Juan Diego Quintero (Agustín Sosa 62) 5 Lorenzo Surraco 6 Agustín Ortas (capt.) (Sebastián Pfieff 48) 7 Matías Brignoni (Mike Johnson 66) 8 Santiago Civetta 9 Santiago Arata 10 Felipe Etcheverry 11 Martín Fitipaldo 12 Iñaki Ormaechea (Agustín Della Corte 57) 13 Tomás Inciarte 14 Bautista Mascia (Rafael Olaso 71) 15 Lucas Durán

ZIMBABWE
1 Rodrick Mubaiwa 2 Tinotenda Msasanure (Lebogang Ngwenya 53) 3 Justin Mendelsohn (Tanaka Chikwezvero 79) 4 Tinashe Muchena 5 Kudakwashe Ndoro (Daniel Nyamugama HT) 6 Tapiwa Mangwana 7 Connor Pritchard (capt.) 8 Aiden Burnett 9 Takudzwa Gamanya (Ernest Mudzengerere 44) 10 Shingirai Katsvere 11 Kudzaishe Munangi 12 Angus Bruce 13 Mudiwa Manhombo 14 Sam Phiri (Tawanda Ngosi 68) 15 Tarisai Mapfumo

Not used: Tatenda Zhoya, Tadiwa Gochera

 

USA 32 – 12 HONG KONG

Discipline remains a concern for the All-Americans with two yellow cards earned in the first half to Devin Lim and captain Hanco Germishuys, but the defense will be a positive as only two tries were conceded despite playing a quarter of the match with only 14 players. Travis Heer and Jonathan Healy exchanged tries in the opening 20 minutes but Germishuys broke away to land his first on 25 minutes, with Ben Cima converting both MJAA tries to hand them a 16-6 lead at the interval.

Hong Kong made things interesting thanks to a smart line run by Liam Owens to score from a quick tap penalty to close the gap to only four points. Germishuys took a quick one of his own, however, and notched his second try of the match and fifth of the tournament to stretch the lead from Hong Kong’s clutches. Malon Al-Jiboori was found loitering on the wing to touch down just five minutes later to put the result beyond doubt. The All-Americans will face Spain on Wednesday in a winner-take-all battle for a spot in the final.

USA 32
Tries – T. Heer (11), H. Germishuys 2 (25, 64), M. Al-Jiboori (70)
Cons – B. Cima (12, 26, 65, 71)
Yellow cards – D. Lim (10), H. Germishuys (39)

HONG KONG 12
Tries – J. Healy (18), L. Owens (57)

USA
1 Chance Wenglewski 2 Steven Branham (Ruairi Van Raalte 77) 3 Roman Salanoa (Mason Pedersen 51) 4 Victor Comptat (Deven Marshall 48) 5 Malon Al-Jiboori 6 Veuki Taumoefolau (Chad Sneyd 58) 7 Brennan Falcon 8 Hanco Germishuys (capt.) (Bronson Teles 78) 9 Ruben de Haas (Louis Mulholland 53) 10 Duncan van Schalkwyk 11 Travis Heer (Rodney Giles 66) 12 Brian Hannon 13 Devin Lim 14 Tyler Sousley 15 Ben Cima

HONG KONG
1 Ken Encarnacion (Lachlan Oliver-Kerby 77)2 Michael Earley (Ming Kei Wong 71) 3 Callum McFeat-Smith 4 Oisin Harbitz 5 Alessandro Nardoni (Wesley Yip 48) 6 Jonathan Healy 7 Pierce Mackinlay-West (capt.) 8 Liam Herbert (Ben Tang 27) 9 Mark Coebergh 10 Hugo Stiles (Paul Altier 55) 11 Austin Robertshaw 12 Liam Owens 13 Matthew Worley (James Karton 56) 14 Jack Combes 15 James Christie

Not used: Ron Siew