JWC: Only the 'A Game' will do
It may not be the War of Independence but there will be no love lost when defending IRB Junior World Champions England go head-to-head with Ireland in Albany on Sunday.
It is the first of two semifinals at the Under-20 tournament – with host New Zealand facing the table-topping South Africa.
There are a host of other play-off matches on Sunday – Argentina U20 v Fiji U20, Australia U20 v Samoa U20 (playing for ninth place), Italy U20 v Scotland U20 and Wales U20 v France U20 (fifth place).
Ireland coach Mike Ruddock had made three changes to the side that overcame Fiji 38-0 to finish top of Pool B and qualify for Ireland's first JWC semifinal.
Nick McCarthy returns at scrumhalf with Ryan Foley dropping back to the bench, while Peadar Timmins and Frankie Taggart are restored to the back row with Josh Murphy and Rory Moloney making way.
Speaking ahead of the much-anticipated game, Ruddock pointed to England's status as the defending champions.
"They [England] are the current World champions and it doesn't get any bigger than that," Ruddock said.
"They will be confident after beating us in the Six Nations, but we have improved since then. Nothing less than our 'A game' will do."
England were also three from three in the pool stage – with wins against Italy, Australia and Argentina and will be hoping to reach their third Final in four years.
Saracens lock Maro Itoje captains the side and says that he can't wait to lead the side out.
"It's a huge game for us and one we're really looking forward to," Itoje said.
"We played Ireland in the Six Nations so we know that they're a strong side – we've got a lot of respect for them, and we know that we're going to have to perform if we want to get anything out of the game.
"As a group we are close, it's been a massive squad effort that's got us this far and we need to keep that momentum going into Sunday."
* Meanwhile Wales U20 coach Byron Hayward has made three changes to the starting line-up for his side's second Junior World Championship match against France in a week.
Lock Scott Andrews replaces fellow Dragon Joe Davies, Scott Matthews comes in on the openside for Will Boyde, and Ashley Evans returns to the starting XV in place of left wing Joshua Adams. In addition, Ben Leung comes onto the bench for Callum Lewis who picked up an ankle injury in the 13-3 victory on Tuesday.
Although Wales beat Grand Slam winners France in their final Pool match, it wasn't enough to overturn their defeat to Ireland and make it through to the top four, so Wales face France again in the fifth place play-off match.
Sunday, June 15
Argentina U20 v Fiji U20
Teams:
Argentina U20: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 German Schulz, 13 Santiago Alvarez, 12 Tomas Granella, 11 Rodrigo Etchart, 10 Patricio Fernandez (captain), 9 Juan Bernardini, 8 Santiago Portillo, 7 Jose Deheza, 6 Tomas Lezana, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 4 Guido Peti Pagadizabal, 3 Tomas Ramirez, 2 Juan Ignacio Sanchez, 1 Facundo Gigena.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio David Calles, 17 Ariel Del Cerro, 18 Enrique Pieretto Heiland, 19 Vittorio Tomas Rosti, 20 Lautaro Varo, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Federico Gimenez.
Fiji U 20: 15 Livinai Tuicakau, 14 Aisake Rokobuli, 13 Poasa Waqanibau, 12 Adrea Cocagi (captain), 11 Orisi Nawaqaliva, 10 Josese Kurukava, 9 Tubuka Vueti, 8 Vincent Sosefo, 7 Vasikali Mudu, 6 Ameniasi Natuiyaga, 5 Simione Naiduki,4 Lote Nasiga, 3 Apolosi Ranawai, 2 Wilisoni Lagi, 1 Aseri Robarobalevu.
Replacments: 16 Semi Tuikoroalau Wakolo, 17 Jack Dreunimolea, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Paula Bukavece, 20 Marika Tokalauvere, 21 Marika Tivitivi, 22 Dion Fraser, 23 Elia Mroisio.
Date: June 15
Venue: ECOLight Stadium, Pukekohe
Kick-Off: 12.35 (10.35 GMT)
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Australia U20 v Samoa U20
Teams:
Australia U20: 15 Jonah Placid, 14 Brad Lacey, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Jimmy Stewart, 11 Andrew Kellaway, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Angus Pulver, 8 Ross Haylett-Petty, 7 Rowan Perry, 6 Sean McMahon (captain), 5 Jack Payne, 4 Tom Staniforth, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Harry Scoble, 1 Rory O'Connor.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Sandell, 17 Cameron Orr, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Lolo Fakaosilea, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Joe Powell, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Conrad Quick.
Samoa U20: 15 Luteru Laulala, 14 Johnny Samuelu, 13 Nathaniel Apa, 12 Paul Ah Him, 11 Aukuso Tuitama, 10 Johan Fagasua, 9 Mark Talaese, 8 Richard Mariota, 7 Henry Stowers (captain), 6 Sootala Fa'aso'o, ,5 Cameron Skelton, 4 Jotham Wrampling, 3 Louis Kapeteni, 2 Leif Schwenke, 1 Andrew Lemalu.
Replacments: 16 Iafeta Luamanu, 17 Etimani Sului, 18 Fereti Saaga, 19 Giovanni Habel Kueffner, 20 Ezra Meleisea, 21 Emil Pittman, 22 William Talataina Mu, 23 Joseph Ikenasio.
Date: June 15
Venue: QBE Stadium, Albany
Kick-Off: 14.35 (12.05 am GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Italy U20 v Scotland U20
Teams:
Italy U20: 15 Gabriele Di Giulio, 14 Daniele Di Giulio, 13 Mattia Bellini, 12 Gabriele Manganiello,11 Lorenzo Maria Bruno, 10 Filippo Buscema (captain), 9 Maicol Azzolini, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Federico Ruzza, 5 Andrea Trotta, 4 Riccardo Michieletto, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Adriano Daniele, 1 Francesco Vento.
Replacements: 16 Marco Silva, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Paolo Buonfiglio, 19 Filippo Scalvi, 20 Matteo Cornelli, 21 Simone Parisotto, 22 Giacomo De Santis, 23 Matteo Gabbianelli.
Scotland U20: 15 Ruairidh Young, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Blair Hutchison, 12 Neil Herron, 11 Sam Pecquer, 10 Rory Hutchinson, 9 Alex Glashan, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Tommy Spinks (captain), 6 James Ritchie, 5 Lewis Carmichael, 4 Neil Irvine-Hess, 3 Darcy Rae, 2 Sam James, 1 Jack Cosgrove.
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Phil Cringle, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Andy Cramond, 20 Gabriel Carroll, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Gavin Lowe, 23 Christopher Dean.
Date: June 15
Venue: ECOLight Stadium, Pukekohe
Kick-Off: 15.05 (01.05 GMT)
Referee: Joaquin Montes (Uruguay)
Wales U20 v France U20
Teams:
Wales U20: 15 Dafydd Howells, 14 Tyler Morgan, 13 Steffan Hughes (captain), 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashley Evans, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Tom Williams, 8 James Benjamin, 7 Scott Matthews, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Scott Andrews, 3 Nicky Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Ben Leung, 19 Ben Roach, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Luc Jones, 22 Ethan Davies, 23 Harri Evans.
France U20: 15 Pierre Justes, 14 Kylan Hamdaoui, 13 Xavier Mignot, 12 Ivan Roux, 11 Arthur Bonneval, 10 Brandon Fajardo, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Francois Cros (captain), 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Jean Thomas, 5 Felix Lambey, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Tommy Raynaud, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Youssef Amrouni.
Replacments: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Oleg Ishchenko, 18 Simon Courcoul, 19 Jean Baptiste Singer, 20 Jean-Blaise Lespinasse, 21 Thibault Daubagna, 22 Francois Bouvier, 23 Lucas Blanc.
Date: June 15
Venue: QBE Stadium, Albany
Kick-off: 17.35 ( 03.35 GMT; 04.35 BST)
Referee: Matt O'Brien (Australia)
England U20 v Ireland U20
England U20: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Howard Packman, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Gus Jones, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi.
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Alex Lundberg, 18 Harry Rudkin, 19 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 20 Joel Conlon, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Henry Purdy.
Ireland U20: 15 Cian Kelleher, 14 Ciaran Gaffney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Frankie Taggart, 6 Peadar Timmins, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Stephen Gardiner, 3 Rory Burke, 2 Max Abbott, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Donnellan, 17 Denis Coulson, 18 Oisin Heffernan, 19 Darragh Moloney, 20 Rory Moloney, 21 Ryan Foley, 22 Conor McKeon, 23 Harrison Brewer.
Date: June 15
Venue: QBE Stadium, Albany
Kick-off: 17.05 ( 03.05 GMT; 04.05 BST)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
