IRB U19 B, Day 2 Results
Tonga, Italy, the USA and Canada are the four unbetaen sides after two rounds of Division B of the International Rugby Board’s Under-19 World Championship.
The match reports are provided by the IRB.
USA vs Romania, 16-10
USA maintained their unbeaten start to the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 with a surprise 16-10 victory over Division B top seeds Romania at Queen’s, Belfast, in a closely contested match.
Romania started the stronger of the two sides, having the majority of both the ball and territory. Strong work by the pack was rewarded when flank Bogdan Petreanu was driven over by his fellow forwards for the first score of the match and while USA defended well they just weren’t able to hold out under the pressure applied by their opponents.
It didn’t take long for USA to reply as 10 minutes later centre Jack Tracy sliced through the Romanian back line before out pacing the last defender and touching down for the try to make the scores level at 5-5 after 22 minutes.
Flyhalf Hamish Roberts couldn’t convert the try, but the score provided USA with a new wave of confidence, which showed in their play for the rest of the match.
It was Romania though who went in leading at half-time as, after a series of American errors, Ionel Cazan made a great break before spreading the ball wide for replacement Alexandru Beldean to score his side’s second try and give them a 10-5 advantage.
USA came out strong in the second half with Roberts kicking the ball well from hand to ensure his side were playing mainly in the Romanian 22. A good set piece soon levelled the scores when a catch and drive from a line-out saw Liam Murphy go over the tr- line to reward the Americans for their efforts.
The match was tightly poised at 10-10 and both sides where matching each other in all areas, but it turned out to be the boot of Roberts that won the match for USA after he managed two penalties in tricky kicking conditions.
The USA will now look forward to facing Zimbabwe at Queen’s on Thursday 12 April with their hopes of a semi-final place still firmly on track, while Romania will play Canada at Upritchard Park, Bangor the same night looking to regain some pride after two disappointing defeats.
Afterwards the USA coach Will Thompson said: “Coming in as 12th seeds we weren’t going to get it easy but we have a much better team this year. There is a composure and commitment that hadn’t been there in the past.”
The USA captain Scott Lavalla said: “It feels good to get those two wins. We have a lot of room for improvement but I feel we did enough to win. Now the sky is the limit and we can do anything we set our minds to.”
Scorers:
For Romania:
Tries: Bogdan Petreanu, Alexandru Beldean
For USA:
Tries: Jack Tracy, Liam Murphy
Pens: Hamish Roberts 2
Teams:
Romania:
15 Vlad Marian, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Ionel Cazan, 12 Valentin Ivan (captain), 11 Viorel Zamfir, 10 Danut Prescura, 9 Lucian Morosan, 8 Alexandru Valcu, 7 Bogdan Petreanu, 6 Alexandru Mitu, 5 Sergiu Ursache, 4 Remus Necula, 3 Catalin Graur, 2 Florin Enache, 1 Raducu Zaharia
Replacements (from): 16 Alexandru Braileanu, 17 Marian Panzaru, 18 Ciprian Boca, 19 Cristian Munteanu, 20 Alexandru Beldean, 21 Georgel Catuna, 22 Cristian Voicu, 23 George Tanasescu, 24 Ionut Panturu, 25 Adrian Maftei, 26 Vasile Cioara
USA: 15 Nate Ebner, 14 Adam Ducoing, 13 Gareth Jones, 12 Jack Tracy, 11 Zach Test, 10 Hamish Roberts, 9 Sean Treacy, 8 Simon Kinet, 7 Ryan Roundy, 6 Liam Murphy, 5 Garrett Lambert, 4 Scott Lavalla (captain), 3 Nicholas Cook, 2 Bill Wynne, 1 Stevie Johnston
Replacements (from): 16 Zach Heath, 17 Shawn Pittman, 18 Kyle Toombs, 19 Kevin Erskine, 20 Austin Cella, 21 Hoseki Kofe, 22 Travis Benson, 23 Nick Johnson, 24 James Jewison, 25 Eric West, 26 Taylor Mokate
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Touch Judges: Philip Bosch (South Africa), Richard Kerr (Ireland)
Canada vs Russia, 33-5
Canada continued their Division B winning run against Russia in front of a sizeable crowd with a 33-5 bonus point victory which will stand them in good stead for a title challenge at the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007.
The better of the opening exchanges went to Canada, though it was Russia who scored the first points at Upritchard Park, Bangor.
Canada’s flyhalf Nathan Hirayama’s kick was charged down by Russia No.8 Dmitry Gerasimov who ran in a try from the half-way line.
Because of the windy conditions both the set pieces and kicking became a lottery. But Canadian pressure eventually paid off as Russian prop Gennady Berezhnov was shown the yellow card after killing the ball in his own 22. Canadian fl half Hirayama duly kicked the penalty.
Canada quickly took advantage of the extra forward and after a good break managed to keep the ball in hand and successfully mauled over the Russian line, with Kyle Buckley scoring the try.
Early in the second half Canada continued their territorial domination. However, after excellent work by Gerasimov Russia broke away but good scramble defence from the Canadians forced only a kick which caught the wind and went out on the full.
Canada stretched their lead soon after with an impressive five-metre line-out steal from lock Thomas Schwitzer who went over unchallenged, which Hirayama converted.
Russia were continually under pressure and the frustration showed as inside centre Sergey Gavryushin was sin-binned for joining the ruck from the side.
Canada took advantage of one less man in the backline by spreading the ball wide, eventually constructing an overlap, allowing Jeff Campbell to finish off with space to spare.
Two late tries from Jordan Wilson-Ross and a conversion from Hirayama rounded off a comfortable victory for Canada.
Afterwards Canadian coach Gary Johnston: “I’m really happy with the bonus point and if you want a chance to get into the top flight you need your four tries and we got five so we’re happy.”
Scorers:
For Ruusia:
Try: Dmitry Gerasimov
For Canada:
Tries: Kyle Buckley, Thomas Schwitzer, Jeff Campbell, Jordan Wilson-Ross 2
Con: Nathan Hirayama
Pens: Nathan Hirayama 2
Teams:
Russia: 15 Vasily Sizykh, 14 Marat Abdullin, 13 Timur Temiev, 12 Sergey Gavryushin (captain), 11 Alexey Andreev, 10 Iustin Petrushka, 9 Gleb Babkin, 8 Dmitry Gerasimov, 7 Pavel Dmitriev, 6 Andrey Gas, 5 Ilya Osminko, 4 Ivan Sysoev, 3 Gennady Berezhnov, 2 Sergey Chernyshev, 1 Alexey Pivovarow
Replacements (from): 16 Mikhail Chechetkin, 17 Yladimir Voronin, 18 Sergey Malikov, 19 Valery Klimenko, 20 Valentin Yusim, 21 Alexey Arnautov, 22 Andrey Lubkov, 23 Alexey Tolstykh, 24 Andrey Kuleshin, 25 Ruslan Fralkov, 26 Roman Timofeev
Canada: 15 Harry Jones, 14 Jordan Wilson-Ross, 13 Matt Evans, 12 Michael Scholz, 11 Kyle Buckley, 10 Nathan Hirayama (captain), 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 8 Thyssen de Goede, 7 Keegan Selby, 6 Ian Manly, 5 Richard Andrews, 4 Thomas Schwitzer, 3 Mauro Perizzolo, 2 Ryan Hamilton , 1 Russell Ward
Replacements: 16 Kyle Leclerc, 17 Jeff Campbell, 18 Luke Racine, 19 Seb Pearson, 20 Mike Berry, 21 Benz Henrikson, 22 Scott Manning, 23 Andrew Tiedemann, 24 Matt Mosby, 26 Jesse McConney
Referee: Dean Richards (England)
Touch Judges: Jerome Garces (France), Peter Ferguson (Ireland)
Tonga vs Cook Islands, 72-6
Tonga moved a step closer to a semi final place in Division B of the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 after running in 12 tries to beat the Cook Islands 72-6 at Gibson Park, Malone.
The Cook Islands trailed 34-3 at half-time, but had come back into the game significantly after conceding four tries in the first 15 minutes. It was Tonga’s speedy wing Alfred Hausia who opened the scoring in the third minute when he outpaced the defence to run in from the halfway line.
Hausia grabbed his second try before the first half was over, but his performance was matched by hooker Lepaola Taueli, who scored after 20 minutes and again right on the half-time whistle to cap a brilliant display.
The Cook Islands got themselves on the scoreboard after 17 minutes with a penalty by flyhalf Roney Maui, who added another three minutes into the second half, but it was Tonga that scored the first points of the half when number 8 Constantin Kauvaka crossed for a try in the opening minute of the half.
With the bonus point secured Tonga started to look for more tries and were guilty of not getting the final pass away on a number of occasions.
They did however score another five tries in the second half with centre Sione Toke collecting a personal tally of 17 points with six conversions and the try he scored on the final whistle when he crashed through the defence from five metres out.
Tonga captain Richard Kaufusi bagged himself a try as did wing Charles Mateo, full back Mateo Malupo, flank Inoke Taufa and replacement scrumhalf Sekope Maea. Kauvaka also got another try to punish the Cook Islanders for some lax tackling.
Afterwards Cook Islands captain Papa Mataroa: “We have really enjoyed our first time in the IRB Under 19 World Championship. It’s been a tough learning curve and our tackling let us down today. We will look to front up against Chinese Taipei and be a bit more physical in defence.”
Scorers:
For Tonga:
Tries: Alfred Hausia 2, Mateo Malupo, Richard Kaufusi, Lepaola Taueli 2, Inoke Taufa, Constantin Kauvaka 2, Charles Mateo, Sekope Maea, Sione Toke
Cons: Sione Toke 6
For Cook Islands:
Pens: Ced Toru, Roney Maui
Teams:
Tonga: 15 Mateo Malupo, 14 Charles Mateo, 13 Simote Langi, 12 Sione Toke, 11 Alfred Hausia, 10 Richard Kaufusi (captain), 9 Mahe Fangupo, 8 Constantin Kauvaka, 7 Inoke Taufa, 6 Tone Tukufuka, 5 Finau Tupa, 4 Ikuna Manuofetoa, 3 Salesi Veikune, 2 Lepaola Taueli, 1 Maleko Latu
Replacements: 16 Sila Puafisi, 17 Viliami Pola, 19 Tevita Tangi, 21 Salesi Sete, 22 Pauni Atiola, 24 Sekope Maea, 26 Fransis Penitani,
Cook Islands: 15 Ced Toru, 14 Eddy Nicholas, 13 Papa Mataroa (captain), 12 Sean Fletcher, 11 Jovan Wichman, 10 Roney Maui, 9 Tepou Nipurahi, 8 Patella Tou, 7 Norman Heather, 6 Mana Pureau, 5 Metua Tuare, 4 Ngati Manuela, 3 Tara Metuariki, 2 Louis Mokoroa, 1 Fred Enoka
Replacements: 16 James Philip, 17 Tupou Faireka, 18 Tony Moeauri, 19 Ngatoa Mana, 20 Junior Napara, 21 Jack Petero, 22 Tahiri Elikana,
Referee: Javier Mancuso (Argentina)
Touch Judges: Neil Paterson (Scotland), James Bolabiu (Fiji)
Italy vs Chile, 32-13
Both Italy and Chile were looking to build upon their opening Division B victories over Chinese Taipei and the Cook Islands respectively at the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007.
Windy conditions at Upritchard Park, Bangor, were not conducive to running rugby, but Italy handled them better to finish 32-13 winners.
Italy’s first half domination was evident from the outset when they declined to kick a penalty and instead ran the ball wide where captain and inside centre Alberto Chiesa crossed for the opening try, which tournament leading scorer Riccardo Bocchino converted.
Italy extended their lead soon afterwards when second row Alberto Cazzola stole a Chilean line-out close to their own line and broke through the cover defence unchallenged to add a further five points.
Chile finally woke up and their full hearted defence meant that Italy fell foul to handling errors.
They soon recovered their composure though and Bocchino found a gap inside his opposite number and offloaded to scrumhalf Edoardo Rotella who ran in under the posts.
The metronomic Bocchino added the conversion before slottiing a penalty to give Italy a 22-0 half-time lead.
Italian flank Simone Favard was sent to the bin after a dangerous tackle early in the second half and Chilean flyhalf Francisco Gonzalez dutifully converted the three points on offer.
As Favard rejoined the action Italy took control of proceedings and when Chile failed to clear the ball Chiesa scored his second try of the match.
In the latter stages of the match wing Diego Schachner led Chile’s effort to come back into the match. After a neat line-out move which bewildered the Italian pack, replacement Max Rochette crossed for a try.
Rafael Richard then added a second Chilean try, but Italy secured their bonus point after a maul, when Rudolph Mermone touched down late on.
Italy, second in Division B, will now play top side Tonga in their final pool game, with the likelihood being that the winner will secure top spot.
Afgterwards the Italian captain Alberto Chiesa said: “We have to improve on our scrum, the togetherness of our back row and our line-out. But it was very windy.”
Chile wing Diego Schachner said: “Our second half was by far better than the first. We tackled harder, passed better and found more and more spaces. I am happy about my performance though and I always look forward to the next game.”
Scorers:
For Chile:
Tries: Max Rochette, Rafael Richard
Pen: Francisco Gonzalez
For Italy:
Tries: Alberto Chiesa 2, Alberto Cazzola, Edoardo Rotella, Rudolph Mernone
Cons: Riccardo Bocchino 2
Pen: Riccardo Bocchino
Teams:
Chile: 15 Tomas Smits, 14 Francisco Metuaze, 13 Francisco de la Fuente, 12 Ricardo Sifri, 11 Diego Schachner, 10 Francisco Gonzalez,9 Alonso Oliver, 8 Fabio Rodriguez, 7 Felipe Yaconi, 6 Benjamin Del Solar (captain), 5 Tomas Dahmen, 4 Nicolas Lafrentz, 3 Luka Salamunic, 2 Jose Santander , 1 Alejandro Rios
Replacements: 18 Rafael Richard, 19 Ignacio Alvarez, 20 Max Rochette, 21 Patricio Valladares, 22 Juan Jose Ruiz, 23 Matias Hojas, 25 Arturo Raby
Italy: 15 Francesco Fiorani, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Alberto Chiesa (captain), 11 Giuseppe Sapuppo, 10 Riccardo Bocchino,9 Edoardo Rotella, 8 Rudolph Mernone, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Lorenzo Puliti, 5 Alberto Cazzola, 4 Filippo Giusti, 3 Massimiliano Ravalle, 2 Gabriele Morelli , 1 Andrea De Marchi
Replacements (from): 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Elia Violi, 18 Lorenzo Sebastiani, 19 Giacomo Sala, 20 Alex Leo, 21 Luca Martinelli, 22 Giovanni Massaro, 23 Marcello Magri, 24 Nicola Simion, 25 Mattia Locatelli, 26 Alberto Bergamo
Referee: Phil Smith (Canada)
Touch Judges: David Keane (Ireland), Kyosuke Toda (Japan)
Uruguay vs Chinese Taipei, 55-5
After a disappointing defeat by Tonga in their first Division B match, Uruguay bounced back well with a 55-5 win over the Chinese Taipei at Queen’s to keep alive hopes of a semi-final place at the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007 in Belfast.
Uruguay got off to a fast start and in the first minute of the match scrumhalf Francisco Vecino went over for the opening try. The South Americans never looked back from this and maintained a constant stream of pressure and, although faced with a determined Chinese Taipei defence, broke through on several occasions in the first half.
Chinese Taipei did get on the scoreboard when, after a number of phases in Uruguay’s 22, the backs spread the ball to the wing for Chung-Wei Chou to touch down in the corner to score the first try of the tournament for his team.
The Chinese Taipei backs looked lively on several occasions when they received the ball in hand but this didn’t happen enough to trouble the Uruguay defence and half-time saw the South Americans leading 29-5 after tries from Santiago Gibernau, Manuel Sagarra and German Albanell.
The tone of the second half was very similar to that of the first with Uruguay having the majority of the ball. Albanell scored his second try of the match and was a stand out player throughout with his tactical kicking and distribution to his fellow backs.
On several occasions Chinese Taipei did threaten, but the Uruguay defence was strong and won most battles in the contact area, making it almost impossible for their opponents to gain any momentum.
Further tries from Rodrigo Mendez, Juan Pablo Pereira and Diego Magno padded the score line and ensured the victory for the South Americans.
Uruguay will now move on to face Chile on Thursday in a South American battle with both teams having an eye on advancing to the semi final stages of the tournament, while Chinese Taipei will be hoping to register their first win against the Cook Islands.
Afterwards the Uruguay coach Martin Mendaro: “We feel very happy. That is a goal for us to complete. We had to score four tries and we did it and got the bonus point. We made a lot of changes so our players wouldn’t get tired. We play Chile next, we know them very well and they know us but it will be good.”
The Uruguay captain Matias Fonseca said: “This game was very important to us. We had to win and win with four tries. We learn by playing together and German was very important for our victory.”
The Chinese Taipei captain Cheng-Yang Chen: “It was a hard game but we’re getting better. The players were encouraged. Confidence is good and hopefully we’ll be better in the next game.”
Scorers:
For Chinese Taipei:
Try: Chung-Wei Chou
For Ururguay:
Tries: Francisco Vecino, German Albanell 3, Santiago Gibernau, Manuel Sagarra, Rodrigo Mendez, Juan Pablo Pereira, Diego Magno
Cons: German Albanell 5
Pen: German Albanell
Teams:
Chinese Taipei: 15 Chung-Yu Huang, 14 Chung-Wei Chou, 13 I-Jen Chen, 12 Chih-Wei Chu, 11 Chen-Wen Li, 10 Wei-Fan Lu, 9 Hao-Ming Chen, 8 Cheng-Yang Chen (captain), 7 Chun-Chieh Chiu, 6 Chun-Wei Szu, 5 Wei-Cheng Cheng, 4 Cheng-Wei Chang, 3 Wen-Lin Liu, 2 Tung-Yang Wu, 1 Jung-Chieh Chang
Replacements (from): 16 Chao-Wei Guo, 17 Wei-Ting Chen, 18 Che-Yen Liu, 19 Wei-Chu Lin, 20 Chia-Yu Tai, 21 Kai-Chun Tsai, 22 Hsun Pan, 23 Chun-Yen Fan , 24 Hao-i Lee, 25 Chia-Lin Yen, 26 Jui-Lin Chang
Uruguay: 15 Rodrigo Mendez, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 13 Manuel Sagarra, 12 Juan de Freitas, 11 Ignacio Inchausti, 10 German Albanell, 9 Francisco Vecino, 8 Matias Fonseca (captain), 7 Juan Pablo Pereira, 6 Diego Magno, 5 Federico Perez, 4 Agustin Bordaberry, 3 Alejandro Nieto, 2 Joaquin Rocco, 1 Edgardo Benitez
Replacements (from): 16 Juan Verde , 17 Juan Pablo Ruffalini , 18 Juan Ormaechea , 19 Francisco Vilaseca , 21 Tomas Jolivet, 22 Eduardo Nin, 23 Adrian Lewis, 25 Leandro Leivas , 26 Jeronimo Etcheverry
Referee: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Touch Judges: Julian Pritchard (Australia), Laifaga Unasa (Samoa)
Zimbabwe vs Georgia, 33-26
Zimbabwe pulled off a shock 33-26 victory over Georgia in Division B at Gibson Park, Malone to secure their first victory at the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007.
Georgia had opened the scoring when the pack drove George Jashitashvili over the line from a tap penalty six metres out, with Beka Tsiklauri adding the conversion.
Flanker Vasil Kakovin added another try ten minutes later, though this time the conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Zimbabwe fought back quickly and wing Tanaka Chamunokara outpaced the Georgian defence to score a try which Makwanya converted, before adding a brace of penalties to give his team a 13-12 lead at half-time.
An early penalty in the second half by Makwanya allowed Zimbabwe to relax and use their pace and handling skills to outmanoeuvre the Georgian defence.
Two more tries from Chamunokara and Barry Mansfield meant Zimbabwe had total domination of the match, before substitute Mufaro Musara finished off some slick handling and raced the length of the pitch to score under the posts.
With the game drawing to a close Georgia gained some momentum and was able to grab two late tries from replacements David Chichua and Giorgi Kalmakhelidze which Rati Nutsubidze converted.
Those tries earned Georgia two bonus points, which leaves them with a chance of a promotion semi final place, so long as they beat Russia in their third and final pool match.
Zimbabwe meanwhile lies in seventh place and need to beat an undefeated USA in their last pool match if they are to have any chance of making the semi finals.
Afterwards the Zimbabwe captain Andrew Rose said: “I was going to give the scrumhalf a roasting for his decision on the penalty, but seeing Mufaro sprint in for that try was fantastic. I would just like to thank our supporters who were fantastic today.”
The Georgia captain Archil Kobauri said: “We expected to win the game before we started, but the Zimbabwe defence was very good. Securing the two bonus points means that our game against Russia is very important. We have never lost at Under 19 level to Russia but we need to win to hopefully qualify for the semi finals.”
Scorers:
For Zimbabwe:
Tries: Tanaka Chamunokara 2, Barry Mansfield, Mufaro Musara, , , ,
Cons: Tichafara Makwanya 2
Pens: Tichafara Makwanya 3
For Georgia:
Tries: George Jashitashvili, Vasil Kakovin, David Chichua, Giorgi Kalmakhelidze
Cons: Beka Tsiklauri, Rati Nutsubidze 2
Teams:
Zimbabwe:
15 Raymond de Jong, 14 Tanaka Chamunokara, 13 Barry Mansfield, 12 Christopher Hulley, 11 Robert Lee-Webb, 10 Tichafara Makwanya, 9 Ryan Manyika, 8 Daniel Nicholls, 7 Michael Todd, 6 Andrew Rose (captain), 5 Andre Odendaal, 4 Christopher Dryburgh, 3 Tinashe Bopoto, 2 John Raynor, 1 Kudzaishe Moyo
Replacements (from): 16 Farai Mapunde, 17 Benjamin Mavros, 18 Nkosana Kunene, 19 Allan Kennedy, 20 Shaun Neal, 21 Dylan Bradshaw, 22 Mufaro Musara, 23 Tapuwanashe Chitima, 24 Lloyd Swift, 25 Orry Pearce, 26 Rangarirai Zembe
Georgia: 15 Vakhtang Kavtidze, 14 Alexander Tuchashvili, 13 Giorgi Svandize, 12 Rati Nutsubidze, 11 Beka Tsiklauri, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 George Rokhvadze, 8 Archil Kobauri (captain), 7 Vasil Kakovin, 6 Vakhtang Mdzinarishvili, 5 Tornike Dzagnidze, 4 Viktor Kolelishvili, 3 George Jashitashvili, 2 Beka Skhulukhia, 1 George Tsirekidze
Replacements: 16 Irakli Mirtskhulava, 18 Giorgi Kalmakhelidze, 19 David Chichua, 20 Zakaria Zirakashvili, 22 Michael Tsiklauri, 23 David Aladashvili, 26 Sandro Inashvili
Referee: Joao Mourinha (Portugal)
Touch Judges: Matt Stanish New Zealand, Sarah Corrigan (Australia)
