Junior World Trophy - Day 2

On the second day of the Junior World Rugby Trophy being played in Santiago, Chile, the teams which won on Day 1 won on Day 2 as well.

Results:

Pool A
Romania vs Cook Islands, 46-7
Chile vs Namibia, 20-6

Pool B
Uruguay vs Jamaica, 82-0
Georgia vs Korea, 50-21

Romania vs Cook Islands, 46-7

Romania underlined their IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy title credentials with a resounding 46-7 victory over a battling Cook Islands side at the Estadio San Carlos in Santiago on Saturday to remain unbeaten in Pool A.

Determined to atone for their second half performance in Tuesday’s nail-biting 28-26 victory over Namibia, Romania were given the perfect start when their powerful number 8 Bogdan Petreanu opened the scoring in the ninth minute. flyhalf Alin Georgescu’s conversion established a 7-0 lead in a half which they completely dominated.

Despite the Cook Islands’ best attempts to prevent the floodgates from opening, Romania’s powerful forwards took complete control and created an opportunity for captain Alexandru Valcu to crash over for his side’s second try. Georgescu’s conversion extended Romania’s lead to 14 points entering the second quarter.

The Romanians continued to press, but were prevented from scoring a further try until the 32nd minute of the match when the impressive Petreanu crossed the try line for his second five pointer to leave his side with a commanding 19-0 lead at the interval.

Defeated 33-10 in their opening encounter by hosts Chile, the Cook Islands to their credit were heroic in defence, but were unable to repel Romania’s advances in a second half dominated by their forward pack.

Barely six minutes had elapsed before the Romanians crossed for their fourth try of the match with second row Cristian Munteanu finishing off an impressive move inside the Cook Islands half. Georgescu’s conversion stretched the advantage to 26-0, although within three minutes that had become 31-0 as Munteanu crossed for his second try.

The Cook Islands hit back midway through the half as replacement Patella Tou crossed the line for a well deserved try, which gave his side hope. However, trailing 31-7, they were faced with a mountain to climb and the hope was to be shortlived as Romania scored three tries in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory.

Replacement front row Constantin Dumitru crashed over 10 minutes from time before his fellow replacement Georgel Catuna and flank Alexandru Beldean rounded off an impressive performance for the Romanians.

Romania will next face hosts Chile in the crunch match at Stade Francais Club on Wednesday 23 April at 16:00 local time, while the Cook Islands meet Namibia in the 16:00 kick-off at Estadio San Carlos in Santiago.

Afterwards Cook Islands scrumhalf Tepou Nipurahi said: “I reckon our forwards did not get in numbers at the point of breakdown and we also lost the set piece battle, and so we had very little ball for our backs. The backs did not do too badly, but the Romanian forwards were too big and strong.”
 
Romania captain Alexandru Valcu said: “I am delighted. It is my first match as captain of the country and naturally I am delighted. Everything went according to plan and I am pleased that we kept our concentration throughout, though I felt at one point that we started coasting. The boys came back into the game and we finished on a high note. I hope that this will give us a bonus point.”

Scorers:

For Romania:
Tries: Petreanu 2, Valcu, Munteanu, Dumitru, Catuna, Beldean
Cons: Georgescu 3

For Cook Islands:
Try: Tou
Con: Turley

Teams:

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

Cook Islands: 15 Laurence Clarken, 14 Eddy Nicholas, 13 Teddy Stanaway-Teao, 12 Roney Maui, 11 Terua Tuisovivi, 10 Aaron Turley, 9 Tepou Nipurahi, 8 Pirikamu Enua, 7 Papa Mataroa, 6 Kaue Kaue, 5 Norman Heather, 4 Shahn Eru, 3 Tara Metuariki, 2 Matthew Latham, 1 Alexander Woonton (captain)
Replacements: 16 Terrence Glassie, 17 Jovan Pupuke, 18 Ced Toru, 19 Patella Tou, 20 Moelata Uitime, 21 Metua Tuare, 22 Tony Moeauri

Referee: Ucha Narimanidze (Georgia)
Touch judges: Heykel Bahroun (Tunisia), Javier Mancuso (Argentina)

Chile vs Namibia, 20-6

Chile maintained their excellent start to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with a hard fought 20-6 Pool A victory over Namibia at the Estadio San Carlos in their capital city of Santiago on Saturday.

Boosted by some 5 000 vociferous supporters, the host nation produced a superb second-half performance to outmuscle a strong Namibian pack to secure the victory that will now set up a mouth-watering winner-takes-all match against in-form Romania at the Stade Français Club on Wednesday.

In a tight first half dominated by committed defence, Chile edged into an early lead through a penalty by impressive flyhalf Francisco Gonzalez. The lead, though, was to be short lived, as Namibia, looking to regroup after their opening 28-26 loss to Romania, responded with a penalty of their own through Jacques Nell to level the scores after just eight minutes.

The scene was set for an enthralling encounter, but as the half progressed, superb tackling from both sides continually cancelled out any promising attacks and it was not until the final minute that the scoreboard was to be troubled again.

Spurred on by their incredible supporters, Chile were lifted and on the stroke of half time they registered their opening try, much to the delight of those who packed into the ground, when wing Diego Schachner finished off a wonderful attacking move to send his side in leading 8-3 at the interval.

If the match was in the balance at half-time, it was a different Chile side that took to the field for the second half. Encouraged by their first half try, the hosts pushed for more tries, and although Nell added a second penalty for Namibia, they were rewarded with a second try through inside centre Juan José Ruiz.

Chile took complete control thereafter and battered at the Namibian line for much of the half. Namibia, to their credit, were resilient and continued to search for a try of their own, but with legs tiring their luck ran out and the hosts sealed the victory with a converted try through lively scrumhalf Max Rochette, much to the satisfaction of the home crowd.

Chile now face the also unbeaten Romania in the Pool A decider at Stade Français Club on Wednesday, kick-off 1600 local time, while Namibia will be looking to regroup against the Cook Islands over at the Estadio San Carlos at the same time.

Afterwards Namibia assistant coach Henk Botha said: “We wish to give credit to Chile for a very good performance in a very fast and furious game. We made a few errors, and lost a few vital line-outs and scrums and found ourselves on the back foot against a very dynamic and determined team. In fairness, we were a bit rattled as the Chilean pack came very strong at us and from now on we will support them in the tournament.”

Namibia’s captain Thomasau Forbes said: “We never lost our confidence, though we made these costly errors in the line-out. It is difficult to believe that we lost, such was the intensity of the contest, but there you are – they won and we wish them the best against Romania next week. We have to get to grips with our game and try to win the next matches”.

Chile’s captain Benjamin del Solar said: “We are not yet the finished product. The team is developing with every match we play, both in terms of play and character. We must maintain this momentum in the next match, for which we must improve again, especially our levels of concentration. I am delighted we won, and I congratulate my team, but also the Namibian boys who were fantastic opponents. Thank you for the match”.

Scorers:

For Chile:
Tries: Schachner, Ruiz, Rochette
Con: Gonzalez
Pen: Gonzalez

For Namibia:
Pens: Nell 2

Teams:

Chile: 15 Santiago Fuenzalida, 14 Felipe Brangier, 13 Ricardo Sifri, 12 Juan José Ruiz, 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 Cristobal Vega, 19 Felipe Yaconi, 20 Alonso Oliver, 21 Francisco Metuaze, 22 José Ignacio Larenas

Namibia: 15 Robert Herridge, 14 Chrysander Botha, 13 Wynand Smit, 12 JP Myburgh, 11 Cedric Haraseb, 10 Jacques Nell, 9 Colin De Koe, 8 Milando Titus, 7 Thomasau Forbes (captain), 6 Janee Karuaihe, 5 Morne 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 Robbie Bergh, 22 Ronnie Roberts

Referee: Gustavo Gerbasi (Uruguay)
Touch judges: Heykel Bahroun (Tunisia), Javier Mancuso (Argentina)

Georgia vs Korea, 50-21

Georgia made it two wins from two at the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with a 50-31 victory over Korea in Pool B at the Stade Français Club, although they were made to work hard by their disciplined opponents.

With temperatures reaching 31 degrees Celsius it was necessary to introduce water breaks, but despite the warm conditions the match was a very clean affair with Korea so disciplined they only gave away one penalty in the entire 80 minutes.

The Georgian’s bigger physique proved the difference and their ability to make good use of the opportunities that Korea gave them with four of their eight tries coming from long range attacks in an enjoyable encounter.

Georgia had been forced into a change just before kick-off with scrumhalf Giorgi Rokhvadze ruled out with a fever, his place in the starting line up being taken by George Chincharauli with Beka Tsiklauri taking the vacant spot on the replacements bench.

The Georgians, who had beaten Jamaica 90-3 in their opening match, actually fell behind as early as the third minute when second row Choi Min Suk scored the first try of this Pool B encounter, but the Korean lead did not last very long.

Three tries in the next nine minutes through flyhalf Lasha Khmaladze, centre Rati Nutsubidze and full back Goderdzi Joglidze catapulted Georgia into a 19-5 lead, only for Korea to cut the deficit with a try from their wing Lee Sung Beom.

Georgia though responded with three more tries – Joglidze completing his hat-trick either side of the touch down by wing Alexsi Tuchashvili – to go in at half time with a 36-12 advantage over a Korean outfit who were dominated the set pieces.

The Koreans outscored their more fancied opponents by three tries to two in the second half with number 8 Kim Hyun Soo and Khmaladze trading tries within minutes of each other to leave the score 43-17 as the match neared the final quarter.

Full back Jeong Yong Woo and flyhalf Kim Gwong Min scored tries as Korea’s never say die attitude saw them claw back to 43-31 with three minutes remaining, only for wing Jaba Kikvidze to ease any Georgian nerves with the 13th and final try of the encounter.

Georgia will now face Uruguay in their last Pool B match in the 14:00 local time kick-off at the Stade Français Club on Tuesday safe in the knowledge that victory will book their place in the final on 27 April. Korea will kick-off searching for their first victory in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy at the same time against Jamaica at Estadio San Carlos.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Khmaladze, Nutsubidze, Joglidze 3, Tuchashvili, Khmaladze, Kikvidze,,
Cons: Joglidze 3, Nutsubidze, Tsiklauri

For Korea:
Tries: Choi Min Suk, Lee Sung Beom, Kim Hyun Soo, Jeong Yong Woo, Kim Gwong Min
Cons: Seo In Soo 3

Teams:

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

Korea: 15 Jeong Yong Woo, 14 Seo In Soo, 13 Lee Sae Ho, 12 Kim In Kyu, 11 Lee Sung Beom, 10 Kim Gwong Min, 9 Park Sung Jun, 8 Kim Hyun Soo, 7 Kim Ji Woong, 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 Oh Sin Am, 17 Cho Jin Hyun, 18 Mun Ho Jun, 19 Lee Jong Min, 20 Choo Ho Young, 21 Lee Ui Gyu, 22 Woo Seung Jin

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

Uruguay vs Jamaica, 82-0

Uruguay made the most of every attacking opportunity to remain unbeaten in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with an 82-0 defeat of Jamaica at the Stade Français Club in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday.

The more experienced Uruguayans were too strong for Jamaica, who are playing in an IRB international fifteen-a-side tournament for the first time, although despite the one-sided scoreline they kept battling until the final whistle.

Uruguay captain Juan Diego Ormaechea, the son of former Uruguayan Rugby World Cup player and coach Diego, opened the scoring in the sixth minute with the first of five tries by Los Teritos in the first half of this Pool B encounter.

Wing Tomas Jolivet touched down next in the 15th minute before Romanian referee Horatiu Bargaunas awarded Uruguay a penalty try at the end of the first quarter as Jamaica tried to play a loose game that didn’t work out for them.

Ormaechea scored his second try just before the half hour mark and impressive centre Juan de Freitas also touched down before flyhalf Agustin Clerk took his total to 11 points with a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give Uruguay a 36-0 advantage.

Second row Agustin Bordaberry and replacement Geronimo Etcheverry scored tries within seven minutes of the break and flank Miguel Horta’s try in the 55th minute took Uruguay through the 50-point barrier for the second match running.

Replacement Leandro Leivas continued the scoring before De Freitas claimed his second try of the match and his centre partner Francisco Gervaz got in the on act to make it 70-0 with as many minutes on the clock.

There was still time though for flank Rodrigo Espiga and Clerk to score tries as Uruguay moved to the top of Pool B on point differential from Georgia, the side they meet at Stade Français Club on Wednesday to determine who makes the final.

Jamaica meanwhile are continuing to learn from their experiences at the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy and will be looking to record a first win when they face Korea in the 14.00 local time kick-off at the Estadio San Carlos the same day.

Uruguay centre Juan de Freitas said afterwards: “We knew it was going to be an accessible game but we always respected Jamaica. It will help us to continue working towards the big game against Georgia. We knew exactly how we wanted to play this game and at some stages we did what was asked of us. The fact we will have used the whole of the squad is important as everybody needs to be match fit. We need to work on our concentration or focus.

“It was incredible the way they [Jamaica] threw everything into it, even to the end of the game.”

Scorers:

For Uruguay:
Tries: Ormaechea 2, Jolivet, De Freitas 2, Bordaberry, Etcheverry, Horta, Leivas, Gervaz, Espiga, Clerk
Cons: Clerk 5, Etcheverry, Albanell
Pen: Clerk

Teams:

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

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

Referee: Horatiu Bargaunas (Romania)
Touch judges: Salvador Encinas (Chile), Jaime Vial (Chile)

Reports from the IRB