IRB's Junior Trophy starts

The International Rugby Board’s World Junior Trophy kicked off in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday with wins for Romania, Chile, Georgia and Uruguay.

The right teams are divided into two pools.

In Pool A Romania just beat Namibia while Chile won well against the Cook Islands. In Pool B Uruguay had a big win over Korea while Georgia had a huge win over Jamaica.

Fixtures for Saturday, 19 April

Pool A at Estadio San Carlos

Romania vs Cook Islands
Chile vs Namibia in Pool A

Pool B at the Stade Français Club

Georgia vs Korea
Jamaica vs Uruguay

Match Reports

Romania vs Namibia, 28-26

Romania regained control of their opening Pool A match at the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in the final quarter to triumph 28-26 over Namibia at the Stade Français Club in the Chilean capital of Santiago on Tuesday.

They had been given the perfect start when their impressive captain Ionel Cazan opened the scoring in only the third minute, with flyhalf Alin Andrei Georgescu’s conversion establishing a 7-0 lead as Romania went on to dominate the first quarter of the match.

Namibia, though, came back into the match with two tries in three minutes from their exciting wing Chrysander Botha just before the half hour mark – the first of them converted by flyhalf Jacques Nell – to lead 12-7.

However it was Romania who went in leading 14-12 at half time after second row Cristian Munteanu touched down in the 33rd minute to level the scores before Georgescu edged them ahead with the conversion.

Namibia continued to control the game after the break with Botha completing his hat-trick in the 47th minute before replacement Shawn Kaizemi touched down to capitalise on their man advantage with flank Alexandru Mitu in the sin-bin.

Romania, though, hit back almost immediately with a try from wing Madalin Vlad Lemnaru to reduce the deficit to 26-19 before Namibian second row Renaud van Neel was sent off by Argentine referee Javier Mancuso.

Replacement hooker Nichita Iacob levelled the scores with a try in the 68th minute before Georgescu held his nerve to slot what proved to be the winning conversion, although Romania finished with 13 men after Iacob and Alexandru Valcu were both sin-binned.

Afterwards the Romanian captain Ionel Cazan said: “Of course we are very happy. We underestimated them and thought they would be weaker, and so it took us some time to readjust. It was very hot out there and at times we were suffocating. That didn’t make things easy but we still managed to play the game plan we were looking for and although we made couple of mistakes we were happy with our performance and not for one second did I think we could lose.”

Scorers:

For Romania:
Tries: Cazan, Munteanu, Lemnaru, Iacob, , , , ,
Cons: Georgescu 4

For Namibia:
Tries: Botha 3, Kaizemi, , , , , ,
Cons: Nell 3

Teams:

Romania: 15 Ionut Florea, 14 Ionut Puisoru, 13 Ionel Cazan (captain), 12 Viorel Zamfir, 11 Madalin Lemnaru, 10 Alin Georgescu, 9 Valentin Ivan, 8 Bogdan Petreanu, 7 Alexandru Beldean, 6 Alexandru Mitu, 5 Alexandru Valcu, 4 Cristian Munteanu, 3 Vlad Badalicescu, 2 Eduard Marinca, 1 Petre Zapan
Replacements: 16 Nichita Iacob, 17 Constantin Dumitru, 18 Mihai Moraru, 19 David Maris, 20 Mihaita Zainea, 21 Robert Topala, 22 Adrian Maftei

Namibia: 15 Robert Herridge, 14 Chrysander Botha, 13 Wynand Smit, 12 JP Myburgh, 11 Ronnie Roberts, 10 Jacques Nell, 9 Colin De Koe, 8 Milando Titus, 7 Thomasau Forbes (captain), 6 Harold Kasera, 5 Morné Blom, 4 Renaud van Neel, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Gerhard Loubser, 1 Kerneels Myburgh
Replacements: 16 Theo Coetzee, 17 Lloydt Busch, 18 Erik Burger, 19 Ruaan van Taak, 20 Ronald Slamet, 21 Shawn Kaizemi, 22 Cedric Haraseb,

Referee: Javier Mancuso (Argentina)
Touch judges: Gustavo Gerbasi (Uruguay), Ucha Narimanidze (Georgia)

Chile vs Cook Islands, 33-10

Chile kicked off their IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy campaign with a 33-10 defeat of the Cook Islands in the second Pool A match on Tuesday, much to the delight of their supporters in the 4 000 crowd at the Stade Français Club in Santiago.

The tournament hosts were the dominant side throughout the match, showing more intent than their opponents and looking stronger in the backs with centre Francisco de la Fuente and captain and number 8 Benjamín del Solar catching the eye.

De la Fuente opened the scoring in only the third minute with a try, converted by flyhalf Francisco González, and Chile’s lead soon became 12-0 after full back Juan José Ruiz touched down eight minutes later.

The Cook Islands, who had lost 29-14 to Chile in their previous meeting at the IRB Under-19 World Championship last year, then responded with a try following an interception by their standout outside centre Teddy Stanaway-Teao.

His conversion cut the deficit to only five points, but a penalty by flyhalf González and try from wing Diego Schachner reaffirmed Chile’s advantage before Stanaway-Teao kicked a late penalty to leave his side trailing 20-10 at half time.

Their hopes took a knock when prop Tara Metuariki was sent off by Tunisian referee Heykel Bahroun for striking an opponent after only three minutes of the second half and Chile soon increased their advantage with a try from flyhalf González.

Chile’s fifth try came in the 69th minute through replacement Francisco Metuaze when the Cook Islands were down to 13 men with flank Papa Mataroa in the sin-bin and they finished the match that way after replacement Kaue Kaue’s late yellow card.

His sin-binning gave Chile one final scoring opportunity with replacement Santiago Fuenzalida kicking the conversion to seal the victory. Chile now meet Namibia at the Estadio San Carlos on Saturday 19 April at 16:00 local time after the Cook Islands face Romania at the same venue.

Afterwards Chile’s captain Benjamín del Solar said: “We know them from the previous Under-19 World Championship and we knew how they would play and how strong they would be. We had to focus on our game and not allow ourselves to be drawn into their game plan.

“We are staying at the same hotel and as in last year we opened the tournament against them. Now that we have played them, we know that we are again going to be very friendly with them.”

Cook Islands captain Alex Woonton said: “It was a hard match and after a loss like this it is important to get up and start thinking on the next game. This is a tournament, not a one-off game. We expected Chile to be strong and we did not manage to get good attacking platforms.”

Scorers:

For Chile:
Tries: De la Fuente, Ruiz, Schachner, Gonzalez, Metuaze,
Con: Gonzalez
Pens: Gonzalez, Fuenzalida

For Cook Islands:
Try: Stanaway-Teao, , ,
Con: Stanaway-Teao
Pen: Stanaway-Teao

Chile: 15 Juan José Ruiz, 14 Felipe Brangier, 13 Francisco de la Fuente, 12 Ricardo Sifri, 11 Diego Schachner, 10 Francisco Gonzalez, 9 Max Rochette, 8 Benjamín Del Solar (captain), 7 Patricio Valladares, 6 Sebastián Aviles, 5 Tomás Dahmen, 4 Nicolás Lafrentz, 3 Luka Salamunic, 2 Benjamin Barbosa, 1 Alejandro Rios
Replacements: 16 Sebastian Gonzalez, 17 Roberto Steel, 18 Pablo Huete, 19 Felipe Yaconi, 20 Alonso Oliver, 21 Santiago Fuenzalida, 22 Francisco Metuaze

Cook Islands: 15 Laurence Clarken, 14 Tahiri Elikana, 13 Teddy Stanaway-Teao, 12 Terua Tuisovivi, 11 Eddy Nicholas, 10 Aaron Turley, 9 Terrence Glassie, 8 Patella Tou, 7 Papa Mataroa, 6 Moelata Uitime, 5 Norman Heather, 4 Aka Matapo, 3 Tara Metuariki, 2 Jamie Rolton, 1 Alexander Woonton
Replacements: 16 Tepou Nipurahi, 17 George Pamatatau, 18 Shahn Eru, 19 Kaue Kaue, 20 Pirikamu Enua, 21 Metua Tuare, 22 Tony Moeauri,

Referee: Heykel Bahroun (Tunisia)
Touch judges: Ucha Narimanidze (Georgia), Gustavo Gerbasi (Uruguay)

Georgia vs Jamaica, 90-3

Georgia’s power and big tournament experience proved too much for brave Jamaica as they began their IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy campaign with a 90-3 victory at the Estadio San Carlos in Santiago, Chile.

Centre Rati Nutsubidze scored 19 of Georgia’s points, including seven conversions and a try.

Jamaica showed their naivety at this level, but with athletes of such obvious talent as lock Andre McFarlane and three more games in this tournament, they can only benefit from this experience.

On a beautiful day in the foothills of the Andes, prop Giorgi Jashitashvili scored Georgia’s first try of the tournament in the eighth minute, Nutsubidze adding the first of seven first-half conversions.

Further tries followed for wing Alexandre Tuchashvili, number 8 Viktor Kolelishvili, flyhalf Lasha Khmaladze, Jashitashvili again and wing Mikheil Tsiklauri. Nutsubidze then converted his own try before Beka Nikolaishvili and Tuchashvili scored in the last 10 minutes of the half to leave Georgia 59-0 ahead at the break.

Jamaica scored the first points of the second half, a penalty by Smeathan Tapper, but they were to prove their only points as Georgia added five more tries to wrap up a 90-3 win.

Afterwards Jamaica’s coach Victor Hyde said: “Well what can one say after such a score. However, the boys battled to the bitter end and never gave up. The Georgians were stronger, fitter and more skilled than us. Mind you the emotion factor must have played a part. This is such a huge first time ever for us: the first trip outside the country, the first major tournament, the first match against such a strong team.
 
“We were left wanting at the basic skill level: tackling, passing, scrummaging, so we will have to go back to square one. I am not downhearted though, because they tried their best.”
 
Georgian coach Nicolaz Chavchavadze said: “I have to start by giving credit to Jamaica. Such a brave and determined team. They kept coming at us, when other teams would have given up. The boys are a credit to their country. As far as our boys are concerned, we needed this match to get fine-tuned for the bigger challenges later on in the tournament. This was exactly the level you would have wanted and we practised a wide range of moves and ploys, which we have been working on in training.”

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Jashitashvili 2, Tuchashvili 2, Kolelishvili, Khmaladze, Tsiklauri 2, Nutsubidze, Nikolaishvili 2, Kavtidze, Tsirekidze, Toradze
Cons: Nutsubidze 7, Joglidze 2, Tsiklauri

For Jamaica:
Pen: Tapper

Teams

Georgia: 15 Vakhtang Kavtidze, 14 Mikheil Tsiklauri, 13 Giga Korkelia, 12 Rati Nutsubidze, 11 Alexandre Tuchashvili, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 George Chincharauli, 8 Viktor Kolelishvili, 7 Irakli Revishvili, 6 Archil Kobauri (captain), 5 Beka Nikolaishvili, 4 Alexi Iordanashvili, 3 Giorgi Jashitashvili, 2 Beka Skhulukhia, 1 Irakli Mirtskhulava
Replacements: 16 Vasil Kakovin, 17 George Tsirekidze, 18 Giorgi Toradze, 19 Ladiko Chochishvili, 20 Giorgi Rokhvadze, 21 Beka Tsiklauri, 22 Goderdzi Joglidze

Jamaica: 15 Sebastian Stewart, 14 Renaldo Wade, 13 Fabian Atkinson, 12 Tyronie Rowe (captain), 11 Kenneth Walker, 10 Smeathan Tapper, 9 Andrew Hylton, 8 Shane Brown, 7 Clifford Clarke, 6 Demetri Barrett, 5 Jerome Dawkins, 4 Andre McFarlane, 3 Sheldon McDonald, 2 Tyrone Allen, 1 Christopher Granville
Replacements: 16 Hubert Thomas, 17 Keta Bryan, 18 Roxroy Alcott, 19 Brian Hutchinson, 20 Andre Mignott, 21 Keith Dawson, 22 Terrence Morris

Referee: Salvador Encinas (Chile)
Touch judges: Marcin Zeszutek (Poland), Jaime Vial Chile

Uruguay vs Korea, 67-8

Uruguay defeated Korea 67-8 in their opening match of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Santiago, Chile, to confirm themselves amongst the favourites for the title.

Despite the substantial margin of the scoreline and what appears a runaway win by 11 tries to one, Korea did themselves proud against a remarkably competent and composed Uruguay team, who must be surely rated as one of the leading candidate to win this eight-team tournament.
 
However, it is probably more significant for the Korean potential that more than half of the Uruguay tries were scored with their own ball, turned over carelessly, often enough near the Uruguay line.
 
The Koreans attacked at pace with the ball in hand, and varied intelligently between backs and forwards, with the help of a marauding back row of skipper Chang Suk Lee, open side Sin Am Oh and hard running number 8 Hyun Soo Kim, intelligently harnessed by the dynamic scrumhalf Sung Jun Park.

They spent long periods of time in the Uruguay 22, only to spill the ball in a tackle, or have it stolen at the breakdown by the ferociously competitive Teros forwards.

This made observe that the use of the counterattack by the Young Teros was one of the positive outcomes of an encounter he described as very intense and of a very high standard.
 
“We have definitely underestimated Korea and they put us under pressure. The scoreline does not reflect what went on in this match, and we have to go back to look what went right and what went wrong during this match, which we definitely did not control. The use of the opposition ball in counterattack was one of the unexpected features of this encounter, which has found us wanting in several areas, ” Grunwaldt said.
 
Uruguay made wholesale changes after the interval, an aspect emphasized by the management, as key to the welfare of the team. Uruguayan coach Bruno Grunwaldt said: “We have here 26 players and we want to see all of them in action. This is very important to us, but what was pleasing was that we maintained the edge, and scored roughly the same number of tries after the interval, ” added Grunwaldt.

Scorers:

For Uruguay:
Tries: Jolivet 2, Gaminara 2, Vecino, Ormaechea, Rocco, Vecino, Albanell, Benitez,
Cons: Albanell 4, Jolivet 4
Pen: Jolivet

For Korea:
Try: Lee Chang Suk
Pen: Seo In Soo Pen

Teams:

Uruguay: 15 Rodrigo Mendez, 14 Leandro Leivas, 13 Tomas Jolivet, 12 Geronimo Etcheverry, 11 Adrian Lewis, 10 Germán Albanell, 9 Francisco Vecino, 8 Matías Fonseca (captain), 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Diego Magno, 4 Agustín Bordaberry, 3 Rafael Tchilingirbachain, 2 Joaquin Rocco, 1 Agustín Fiorito
Replacements: 16 Eduardo Benitez, 17 Juan Pablo Ruffalini, 18 Alejandro Nieto, 19 Rodrigo Espiga, 20 Juan De Freitas, 21 Santiago Gibernau, 22 Santiago Gortari

Korea: 15 Jeong Yong Woo, 14 Seo In Soo, 13 Lee Sung Beom, 12 Kim In Kyu, 11 Kim Gwong Min, 10 Lee Ui Gyu, 9 Park Sung Jun, 8 Kim Hyun Soo, 7 Oh Sin Am, 6 Lee Chang Suk (captain), 5 Kwon Soon Yong, 4 Choi Min Suk, 3 Choi Dong Hoon, 2 Jo Eun Seong, 1 Shin Young Jin
Replacements: 16 Kim Ji Woong, 17 Cho Jin Hyun, 18 Mun Ho Jun, 19 Lee Jong Min, 20 Choo Ho Young, 21 Woo Seung Jin, 22 Lee Sae Ho

Referee: Horatiu Bargaunas (Romania)
Touch judges: Marcin Zeszutek (Poland), Jaime Vial (Chile)