Preview: Junior World Champs, Day 2
Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:44
It's Day Two of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Junior World Championship - being played in Wales, at Swansea, Cardiff and Wrexham - on Tuesday, with two matches at each venue.
There were some even contests on Day One of the Junior World Championship, but also some close encounters. The close encounters on Day Two could be Australia-Fiji, Argentina-Tonga and France-Italy. Could be!
Day 1 Results
Pool A
Argentina vs Ireland, 17-9
New Zealand vs Tonga, 48-9
Pool B
South Africa vs USA, 108-18
Samoa vs Scotland, 29-17
Pool C
England vs Fiji, 41-17
Australia vs Canada, 81-12
Pool D
France vs Japan, 53-17
Wales vs Italy, 29-10
Day Two Fixtures
(Kick-off time is local - GMT + 1 hour)
Pool A at Cardiff Arms Park
19.00:
Argentina vs Tonga
21.10: Ireland vs New Zealand
New Zealand co-coach Dave Rennie has handed his trio of Super 14 winners their chance to shine against Ireland in their second match at Cardiff Arms Park with wings Kade Poki and Sean Maitland, together with their fellow Crusader Nasi Manu all coming into the starting line up for the 21:10 kick off.
None of them featured in New Zealand’s opening 48-9 victory over Tonga, having only joined the squad a few days earlier direct from the Crusaders’ over the Waratahs in the previous weekend.
In fact only four players retain their starting positions from that tussle in forwards Josh Townsend and man of the match Peter Saili, along with centre Jackson Willison – although he moves out one to outside centre to accommodate new captain Ryan Crotty – and full back Zac Guildford as Rennie ensures every member of the squad will have had game time.
The earlier Pool A match at the Arms Park pits Argentina, the 17-9 conquerors of Ireland on day one, against a Tongan side who certainly caused problems for the fancied New Zealanders in the first half of their opening match, trailing only by a single point at half time.
Pool B at The Racecourse, Wrexham
17.00: Samoa vs USA
19.00: South Africa vs Scotland
South Africa will be looking to continue their barnstorming form when they take on Scotland at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, having laid down a marker of their title credentials with an impressive 108-18 defeat of USA on day one.
Eric Sauls’s side ran in 16 tries against the young Eagles and he will be looking for more of the same from the likes of hat-trick hero Stefan Watermeyer against a Scottish side who must bounce back from an opening loss to Samoa if they are to stand a chance of finishing higher than ninth in this inaugural tournament.
Both sides have rung the changes for this match with only three of the players who started the 29-17 loss to Samoa making the run on XV against the Baby Boks as coach Colin Robertson returns the captaincy to Lewis Calder, the son of former Scottish star Jim and nephew of Finlay.
In the earlier kick off at 17:00, Samoa take on the USA buoyed by their first success against top tier European opposition, a victory wrapped up by Alatasi Tupou’s late interception try.
The Samoans, like many of the other teams, have made a number of changes, particularly in the forwards, although they keep faith with twins Alvin and Aaron Smith in the centre with Sanele Vavae Tuilagi – the latest from that famous Samoan family to wear the national jersey after his brothers Freddie, Henry, Anitelea and Alesana – starting on the wing with Tupou switching to full back.
Salty Thompson, by contrast, has not rung so many personnel changes, although a number of players do switch positions with Kevin Erskine moving to the back row and Nate Ebner coming in from full back to centre outside Thretton Palamo, the youngest ever player to play in the Rugby World Cup after his appearance against the Springboks last year.
Pool C at Rodney Parade, Newport
17.00: England vs Canada
19.00: Australia vs Fiji
Australia coach Brian Melrose has the luxury of resting Dane Haylett-Perry, the leading try scorer in the tournament after his quartet in the 81-12 defeat of Canada on day one, for their encounter with Fiji at Newport’s Rodney Parade.
His fellow try scorers James Hanson, Rob Horne, Ben McCalman and Ratu Nasiganiyavi also drop to the bench in a much-changed line up with their powerful flanker David Pocock poised to continue leading the Australians with his impressive work-rate against a Fijian side they beat 51-27 in a four-quarters trial match in Sydney two weeks ago.
Fiji finished strongly against England, outscoring their conquerors by three tries to none in the second half and will hope to start better against the Australians. Coach Rayne Simpson has run the changes like his Australian counterpart with captain Jese Cirikisuva switching to the other side of back row for the test.
England, who like Australia picked up a bonus point for scoring four tries in their 41-17 opening win against the Fijians, have also overhauled their starting line-up to face Canada in the 17:00 kick off with only five players retaining their positions, including captain Hugo Ellis.
Canada have also made changes with their two try scorers in the loss to Australia, scrum half Sean White and centre Matt Evans both dropping to the bench with Jamie Mackenzie and Taylor Dalziel given their chance in the starting line up.
Pool D at Liberty Stadium, Swansea
17.00: France vs Italy
19.10: Wales vs Japan
Host nation Wales have made 10 changes to their starting line up to face Japan with captain Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Scott Andrews, Jevon Groves and Dan Biggar – man of the match in the hard fought 29-10 defeat of Italy on day one – the only players retained.
“We had a number of missed try scoring opportunities against Italy so we have been working on our execution and accuracy ahead of the Japan game,” admitted coach Patrick Horgan. “However Italy’s defence was excellent and certainly kept them in the game.
“You are always looking for improvement, but we are quite pleased overall with our first performance. Japan gave a good account of themselves against France and we will certainly give the side the respect they deserve.”
The plucky Japanese certainly gave France food for thought before losing 53-17, all three of their tries scored by hooker Ryuhei Arita who shows his flexibility by switching to flanker for the match against Wales, a position he used to play before moving into the front row.
France have also rung the changes to face a side they beat 24-16 in the Under 20 Six Nations earlier this year, with only flanker Louis Madaule, wing Benjamin Fall, centre David Yann and Guillame Namy retaining their placing in the starting line up, although the latter moves from wing to full back.
Thierry Lacrampe will captain the side in place of Morgan Parra at scrum half, who takes his place on a formidable looking bench alongside the likes of Mathieu Belie, Mathieu Bastareaud, Yoann Maestri and Raphael Lakafia, who scored a hat-trick against Japan.
Italy have bucked the trend of many of their counterparts by opting for a virtually unchanged line-up, the only change being a forced one with hooker Tommaso D’Apice handed a two-match ban after being cited for an incident in the Wales match and Gabriele Morelli taking his place.
Teams
Australia: 15 Peter Betham, 14 Blair Connor, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12
Rowan Kellam, 11 Junior Sovala, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Seilala Lam, 7 David Pocockcaptain), 6 Ben Coridas, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Ben Daley, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Albert Anae.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Daniel Palmer, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Rob Horne, 22 Ratu Nasiganiyavi.
England: 15 Noah Cato), 14 Mark Odejobi), 13 Luke Eves, 12 Alex Tait), 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Rob Miller, 9 Ben Youngs), 8 Hugo Ellis (captain), 7 Matthew Cox, 6 Jon Fisher), 5 Gregor Gillanderss, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Scott Freer, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Billy Mossy
Replacements: 16 James Clark, 17 Alex Corbisiero), 18 Ben Thomas, 19 Scott Hobson, 20 Joe Simpson, 21 Alex Goode, 22 Miles Benjamin.
Fiji: 15 Sakiusa Malai, 14 Patemio Kocoturaga, 13 John Stewart, 12 Eroni Tara, 11 William Saukuru, 10 Natubavivi Kasami, 9 Peni Rokodiva, 8 Waqabaca Kotobalavu. 7 Uaraia
Vecenadavui, 6 Jese Cirikisuva (captain), 5 Tevita Tuiloa, 4 Unaloto Ofa, 3 Manasa Romumu, 2 Saula Qalomai, 1 Penijamini Makutu
Replacements: Seru Cakobau, Jeke Lalai, Temo Vakaloloma, Josefa Levula, Vuga Tagicakibau, Anare Vakawaletabua, Wiliame Umu
France: 15 Guillaume Namy, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Yann David, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Alexandre Dumoulin, 9 Thierry Lacrampecaptain), 8 Louis Madaule, 7 Wencelas Lauret, 6 Arthur Chollon, 5 Baptiste Hezard, 4 Jean-Baptiste Roidot, 3 Clement Ric, 2 Marc Antoine Rallier, 1 Rabah Slimani
Replacement: 16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Kevin Kervarec, 18 Yoann Maestri, 19 Raphaël Lakafia, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Mathieu Belie, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud
Italy: 15 Andrea Pratichetti, 14 Andrea Bacchetti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Alberto Chiesa (captain), 11 Edoardo Rotella, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Carlo Vannini, 8 Luca Petillo, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Filippo Giusti, 5 Alberto
Cazzola, 4 Emiliano Caffini, 3 Massimiliano Ravalle, 2 Gabriele Morelli, 1 Andrea De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Otis Lombardi, 17 Luca Zara, 18 Joshua Furno, 19 Giacomo Bernini, 20 Rudolph Mernone, 21 Giovanni Massaro, 22 Alessandro Castagnoli
New Zealand: 15 Zac Guildford, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Crottycaptain), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Trent Renata, 9 Grayson Hart, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Peter Saili, 5 Josh Townsend, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Quentin MacDonald, 1 Rodney Ah You.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Chris Smith, 19 Hugh Reed, 20 Aaron Smith, 21 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22 Andre Taylor.
United States: 15 Tim Moxness, 14 Adam Ducoing, 13 Nate Ebner, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 Zach Test, 10 Ty Siceloff, 9 Sean Treacy, 8 Taylor Mokate, 7 Kevin Erskine, 6 Liam Murphy, 5 Scott Lavallacaptain), 4 Scott Metcalf, 3 Shawn Pittman, 2 Bill Wynne, 1 Stevie Johnston.
Replacements: 16 Mike
Shepherd, 17 Max Paganini, 18 Teddy Barron, 19 Ryan Mctiernan, 20 Austin Cella, 21 Steven Sablan, 22 Gareth Jones.
Wales: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Luke Ford, 12 Rhys Williams, 11 Nathan Rees, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Williams, 8 Sam Warburtoncaptain), 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Lloyd Phillips, 5 Jevon Groves, 4 Ashley Sweet, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Prosser, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Patrick Palmer, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Jonathan Davies, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Gareth Owen
Match Officials:
Pool A
Argentina vs Tonga in Cardiff
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Touch judges: Romain Poite (France), Andrea Pasquin (Italy)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
New Zealand vs Ireland in Cardiff
Referee: James Leckie (Australia)
Touch judges: Romain Poite (France), Andrea Pasquin (Italy)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
Pool B
Samoa vs USA in Wrexham
Referee: Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe (England), David Jones (Wales)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)
South Africa vs Scotland in Wrexham
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe (England), David Jones (Wales)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)
Pool C
England vs Canada in Newport
Referee: Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Touch judges: David Bodilly (Wales), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (IRB)
Australia vs Fiji in Newport
Referee: James Jones
Touch judges: David Bodilly (Wales), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (IRB)
Pool D
France vs Italy in Swansea
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Touch judges: James Bolabiu (Fiji), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
Wales vs Japan in Swansea
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Touch judges: James Bolabiu (Fiji), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
