Junior Boks score 16 tries in ruthless U20 World Championship opener

WRAP, DAY ONE: The Junior Springboks launched the defence of their World Rugby U20 Championship title in emphatic fashion, demolishing Uruguay 104-7 in a ruthless opening-round performance in Georgia on Saturday.

The victory at Avchala Stadium was the SA U20s’ seventh consecutive win at the tournament, which saw them equal their best ever winning run in the tournament – a seven-game streak across the 2012 and 2013 editions.

South Africa sent an early statement to the rest of the tournament, showing they have no intention of surrendering the crown they won last year.

The Junior Boks raced into a 21-0 lead inside the opening 16 minutes through tries by Markus Muller and Jordan Steenkamp, before relentless forward pressure forced a penalty try from a dominant rolling maul.

The onslaught continued before the break as Risima Khosa, Ethan Adams and Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, who grabbed a brace, extended the advantage to a commanding 50-0 at half-time.

There was no let-up after the interval.

Cheswill Jooste, Jayden Brits (2), Siphosetho Mnebelele, Khosa (2), Jordan Steenkamp and Gert Kemp all crossed as South Africa piled on the points.

Uruguay managed a late consolation through Sebastian Dalmao Rivero, but it did little to dent an otherwise one-sided contest.

While sterner challenges await in the tournament, the Junior Boks could hardly have asked for a better start to their title defence, laying down an early marker to the rest of the competition.

*England overcame a flying Irish start to claim a 34-27 victory in one of the opening day’s standout clashes at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Georgia.

Connacht winger Daniel Ryan crossed for a hat-trick as Ireland raced into a 14-0 lead inside six minutes, but two first-half yellow cards proved costly. England capitalised with 24 unanswered points before holding off a late Irish fightback to open their campaign with a crucial Pool C win.

In Pool B, New Zealand were awarded a 38-21 victory over Japan after their match in Kutaisi was abandoned because of lightning.

The Baby Blacks had squandered a 21-7 advantage before regaining control through second half tries from Logan Williams, Caleb Woodley and Mika Muliaina.

With New Zealand leading 38-21 after 66 minutes, nearby lightning forced play to be suspended, and World Rugby confirmed the score would stand under tournament regulations.

*All the scores and scorers of Day One below!

Argentina 78 – 14 USA

Scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries: Benavides, Coll, Cuneo Camargo, Dande, Serpa Laporte, Pfister 3, Ordiz Yujnovsky, Lescano, Fernandez, Preumayr.
Cons: Laporte 7, Giannantonio 2

For USA:
Tries: Ofa, Holder
Cons: Cadden 2

Teams:

Argentina U20: 15 Simon Pfister, 14 Bautista Lescano, 13 Ramon Fernandez, 12 Pedro Coll, 11 Benjamin Ledesma Arocena 10 Federico Serpa Laporte, 9 Valentino Reggiardo, 8 Basilio Canas, 7 Jeronimo Sorondo, 6 Tomas Dande (captain), 5 Bautista Benavides, 4 Joaquin Pascual Viale, 3 Bautista Salinas Mallea, 2 Manuel Cueno Camargo, 1 Fabrizio Cebron
Replacements: 16 Nicolas Cambiasso, 17 Benjamin Farias Cerioni, 18 Federico Narvaez, 19 Jeremy Annand, 20 Franco Marizza Mizawak, 21 Juan Preumayer, 22 Manuel Giannantonio, 23 Benjamin Ordiz Yujnovsky

USA U20: 15 Gavin Holder, 14 Marco Lapierre, 13 Dane Mitchell, 12 Leo Keesler-Venables, 11 Sialeafuhia Ofa, 10 Declan Cadden, 9 Spencer Huntley (captain), 8 Papaseea Matelau, 7 Yiannis Efthymiopoulos, 6 Jayden Williams, 5 Lyndon Bailey, 4 Pierce Kelly, 3 Tyler Trower, 2 Sawyer Troupe, 1 Oliver Kirk
Replacements: 16 Aidan Stewart, 17 Colin Donnelly, 18 Alfie Booth, 19 Tanielu Talaepa, 20 Franck Finicle, 21 Liam Hill, 22 Joseph Sarkees, 23 William Darbishire

Referee: Saba Makharadze (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia), Mariam Goguadze (Georgia)
TMO: Matt Rodden (Hong Kong China)

Scotland 38 – 32 Italy

Scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries: Kelly, Dalziel, McHaffie 2, Moncrieff, Kesterton
Cons: Dalziel 4

For Italy:
Tries: Casarin, Pelli, Luisato, Varotto
Cons: Braga
Pens: Braga, Andretti

Teams:

Italy U20: 15 Alessando Ragusi, 14 Luca Rossi, 13 Luca De Novellis, 12 Riccardo Casarin (captain), 11 David Luisato, 10 Francesco Braga, 9 Nikolaj Varotto, 8 Davide Sette, 7 Jaheim Noel Wilson, 6 Antony Italo Miranda, 5 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 4 Simone Fardin, 3 Erik Meroi, 2 Valerio Pelli, 1 Christian Brasini
Replacements: 16 Ettore Dinarte, 17 Emiliano Mastropasqua, 18 Luca Trevisan, 19 Marco Spreafichi, 20 Carlo Antonio Bianchi, 21 Mattia Andretti, 22 Roberto Fasti, 23 Giacomo Falchetto

Scotland U20: 15 Rory McHaffie, 14 Dan Kelly, 13 Henry Kesterton, 12 Ross Wolfenden (co-captain), 11 Nairn Moncrieff, 10 Jake Dalziel, 9 Matthew Fick, 8 Harry Jackaman, 7 Jack Utterson, 6 Christian Lindsay, 5 Dan Halkon, 4 Alfie Blackett, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Joe Roberts (co-captain), 1 Jamie Stewart
Replacements: 16 Jamie McAughtrie, 17 Will Pearce, 18 Jackson Rennie, 19 Sam Byrd, 20 Harvey Preston, 21 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 22 Asa Stewart-Harris, 23 Alex Bryden

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina), Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)
TMO: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)

England 34 – 27 Ireland

Scorers:

For England:
Tries: Staples, Pater, Knight, Penalty Try
Cons: Shields 3
Pens: Shields

For Ireland:
Tries: Ryan 3, Byrne, Deegan
Cons: O’Shea

Teams:

England U20: 15 James Pater, 14 Zac Finch, 13 Nick Lilley, 12 Will Knight, 11 Sam Winters, 10 Hugh Shields, 9 Lucas Friday, 8 Connor Treacey (captain), 7 Seb Kelly, 6 Tate Williams, 5 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, 4 Elliot Williams, 3 Ollie Streeter, 2 Jimmy Staples, 1 Alan Poku
Replacements: 16 Jerold Gorleku, 17 Oliver Spencer, 18 Sonny Tonga’uiha, 19 Patrick Hogg, 20 Jack Lewis, 21 George Newman, 22 Finn Keylock, 23 George Pearson

Ireland U20: 15 Noah Byrne, 14 Charlie Molony, 13 Rob Carney, 12 James O’Leary, 11 Daniel Ryan, 10 Charlie O’Shea, 9 Christopher Barrett, 8 Diarmaid O’Connell, 7 Ben Blaney, 6 Josh Neill, 5 Dylan McNeice, 4 Donnacha McGuire, 3 Sami Bishti (captain), 2 Rian Handley, 1 Max Doyle
Replacements: 16 Duinn Maguire, 17 Adam Cooper, 18 Jamie Conway, 19 Paddy Woods, 20 Alex Lautsou, 21 James O’Dwyer, 22 Tom Wood, 23 Jack Deegan

Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistant referees: Reuben Keane (Australia), Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

New Zealand 38 – 21 Japan

Scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries: Johnston, Tocker, Guerin, Williams, Woodley, Muliaina
Cons: Muliaina 4

For Japan:
Tries: Sin, SUchida, Miura
Cons: Niwa 3

Teams:

New Zealand U20: 15 Logan Williams, 14 Kele Lasaqa, 13 Siale Pahulu, 12 Haki Wiseman (captain), 11 David Lewai, 10 Mika Muliaina, 9 Charlie Sinton (vice-captain), 8 Micah Fale, 7 Caleb Woodley (vice-captain), 6 Bradley Tocker, 5 Jake Frost, 4 Max Fale, 3 Dane Johnston, 2 Josh Findlay, 1 Henry Stuart
Replacements: 16 Alani Fakava, 17 Ethan Webber, 18 Alex Hewitt, 19 Johnny Falloon, 20 Kobe Brownlee, 21 Jackson Hughan, 22 Cohen Norrie, 23 Ollie Guerin,

Japan U20: 15 Ryuto Koga, 14 Shinnosuke Uchida, 13 Rio Iwakura, 12 Tsunehidemichi Fukuda (captain), 11 Isa Fukada, 10 Takeru Niwa, 9 Soshi Kataoka, 8 Masato Yanase, 7 Kise Sin, 6 Riku Fujikubo, 5 Masoto Hyakutake, 4 Kotaro Kumagae, 3 Haruto Sasaki, 2 Sota Miura, 1 Song Ha Ri
Replacements: 16 Seia Kawanai, 17 Keigo Aruga, 18 Kanta Kawagoe, 19 Taiga Yamazaki, 20 Chikara Fukunda, 21 Keigo Sato, 22 Yuki Kobayashi, 23 Gentaro Sakata

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistant referees: Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina), Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)
TMO: Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)

Wales 25 – 24 Georgia

Scorers:

For Wales:
Tries: James, Cummings, Jones
Cons: Jones 2
Pens: Jones 2

For Georgia:
Tries: Shioshvili 2, Razmadze, Penalty Try
Cons: Khalvashi

Teams:

Wales U20: 15 Rhys Cummings, 14 Dylan Scott, 13 Bailey Cutts, 12 Steff Emanuel co-captain), 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Sion Davies, 8 Evan Minto, 7 Caio James, 6 Deian Gwynne (co-captain), 5 Osian Williams, 4 Luke Evans, 3 Jac Pritchard, 2 Tom Howe, 1 Dylan James
Replacements: 16 James Talamai, 17 George Tuckley, 18 Yestyn Cook, 19 Oscar Rees, 20 Alex Ridgway, 21 Luca Woodyatt, 22 Lloyd Lucas, 23 Luc Anfield,

Georgia U20: 15 Nikoloz Khalvashi, 14 Luka Tabatadze, 13 Leonid Saldadze, 12 Davit Barbakadze, 11 Avtandil Zviadadze, 10 Mate Makharadze, 9 Temur Dzodzuashvili, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Luka Narsia (captain), 6 Giorgi Zazadze, 5 Nikoloz Chkhortolia, 4 Davit Baramia, 3 Gabriel Razmadze, 2 Giorgi Agniashvili, 1 Giorgi Turashvili
Replacements: 16 David Archvadze, 17 Nikoloz Balanchivadze, 18 Levan Ezieshvili, 19 Andria Bilanishvili, 20 Giorgi Ardzenadze, 21 Irakli Kolbaia, 22 Dachi Tsiklauri, 23 Data Akhvlediani

Referee: George Selwood (England)
Assistant referees: Reuben Keane (Australia), David Vosalevu (France)
TMO: Matt Rodden (Hong Kong China)

France 45 – 15 Fiji

For France:
Tries: Frisach, Garault 3, Martin, Andjisseramatchi
Cons: Jurd 4

For Fiji:
Tries: Roseruvakula, MTabuakoto, Penalty Try
Cons: Ledua
Pens: Ratu

Teams:

France U20: 15 Axel Guillaud, 14 Dylan Noudofinin Cazemajou, 13 Timeo Frier, 12 Bastien Rasal, 11 Hugo Avogadro, 10 Diego Jurd, 9 Baptiste Tilloles, 8 Elyjah Ibsaiene, 7 Lucas Andjisseramatchi (captain), 6 Raphael Audebert, 5 Romeo Bonnard Martin, 4 Baptiste Veschambre, 3 Mael Turpin, 2 Gabin Garault, 1 Matheo Frisach
Replacements: 16 Yanis Basse, 17 Edouard Jabea Njocke, 18 Alexandre Langlois, 19 Alban Portat, 20 Bobby Bissu, 21 Nathan Llaveria, 22 Luka Keletaona, 23 Diego Mascarenc

Fiji U20: 15 Tevita Vuniwaqa Ledua, 14 Apete Gauna Rokosuka, 13 Maleli Nauvasi (co-captain), 12 Faimalaga Tuvalu, 11 Sevuloni Rakoto Sauleirogo Satala, 10 Isikeli Bari Ratu, 9 Epeli Rokosemani Vocea, 8 Isoa Koroinawai (co-captain), 7 Mosese Tamaniceva Tuvasu Tabuakoto, 6 Setareki Turagacoke, 5 Marley Chandra, 4 Ratu Apenisa Naevo, 3 Raymond Navunikaba, 2 Isaac Jacob Rauluni, 1 Sylvestre Vakauliafa
Replacements: 16 Ratu Osea Dasalusalu, 17 Marika Koroi, 18 Jehoshua Paul Serupepeli Ratulomai, 19 Savenaca Qabale, 20 Ravuama Jabez Samo, 21 Ratu Epeli Roseruvakula, 22 Netani Immanuel Shane Lesimaikimatuku, 23 Sailosi Vodonaivalu Taka

Referee: Morgan White (Hong Kong China)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Sulkhan Chikhladze (Georgia)
TMO: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)

South Africa 104 – 7 Uruguay

Scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries: Muller, Steenkamp 3, Penalty Try, Khosa 3, Adams, Rasivhaga 2, Brits, Jooste, Mnebelele, Kemp, Brits
Cons: Felix 2, Giliomee 2, Boqwana 5

For Uruguay:
Tries: Rivero
Cons: Pereira

Yellow card: Sebastian Perez (Uruguay – 12’, cynical play)

Teams:

South Africa U20: 15 Luan Giliomee, 14 Khuthadzo Rasivhaga, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Ethan Adams, 11 Jordan Steenkamp, 10 Alzeadon Felix, 9 Hendré Schoeman, 8 Vuyo Gwiji, 7 Gert Kemp, 6 Risima Khosa, 5 JD Hattingh, 4 Jaythen Orange, 3 Luan van der Berg, 2 Liam van Wyk, 1 Rambo Kubheka (captain)
Replacements: 16 Siphosetho Mnebelele, 17 Jordan Jooste, 18 Danie Kruger, 19 Thomas Beling, 20 Wasi Vyambwera, 21 Jayden Brits, 22 Akahluwa Boqwana, 23 Cheswill Jooste

Uruguay U20: 15 Nicolas Pittaluga, 14 Bruno Baccino, 13 Mateo Acosta, 12 Vicente Alvarez, 11Bruno Primavesi, 10 Justo Ferrario, 9 Mateo Ibarburu, 8 Manuel Ponte, 7 Alex Sonneveld, 6 Pedro Suarez, 5 Piero Veglio, 4 Nicolas Mattsson, 3 Juan Francisco Bessio, 2 Sebastian Perez, 1 German Gonzalez
Replacements: 16 Jose Candia Sciarra, 17 Dario Rodriguez, 18 Sebastian Dalmao Rivero, 19 Guillermo Curuchet, 20 Ignacio Merli, 21 Pierre Cotarmanac’h, 22 Juan Francisco Pereira, 23 Joaquin Fresnedo

Referee: Ruairidh Campbell (Scotland)
Assistant referees: David Vosalevu (France), Soso Japaridze (Georgia)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Australia 90 – 17 Spain

Scorers:

For Australia:
Tries: Cleverley, Kruger 2, Langi, Grover, Langi, Geros, Robinson, Fittler 2, Talaileva 2, Blank, Hollyman
Cons: Mackay 10

For Spain:
Tries: Farace, Del Campo, Garcia
Cons: Antem

Teams:

Australia U20: 15 Chayse Geros, 14 Tom Farr-Jones, 13 Taione Taka, 12 Treyvon Pritchard, 11 Cooper Watters, 10 Finn Mackay, 9 Angus Grover, 8 Eli Langi, 7 Tom Robinson (captain), 6 Luca Cleverley, 5 Kenneth Harris, 4 William Ross, 3 Edwin Langi, 2 Ewald Kruger, 1 Jacob Job
Replacements: 16 Charles Hollyman, 17 Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe, 18 Lehopoame Leota, 19 Isaac Fonua, 20 TJ Talaileva, 21 Sam Blank, 22 Charlie Bird, 23 Wallace Charlie

Spain U20: 15 Telmo Fisher, 14 Jorge Garreta, 13 Marcos López, 12 Carlos de la Fuente, 11 Pelayo Serrano, 10 Alfonso Enciso, 9 Bernat Fernández, 8 Marçal Carreras (captain), 7 Unax Salvador, 6 Miguel Narvarte, 5 Marco Radizza, 4 Manex Pujana, 3 Daniel Navarro, 2 Iván Farace, 1 Daniel Chico
Replacements: 16 Lucas Official, 17 Mauro Del Campo, 18 Solomon Ibeoba, 19 Unax Carballo, 20 Max Artigas, 21 Manuel Vazquez, 22 Mateo Antem, 23 Oriol Marsinyac

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Sulkhan Chikhladze (Georgia)
TMO: Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)