Preview: Junior World Cup, Round One

Only seven months on from the senior World Cup, the attention turns to the future stars of the game on Tuesday when the U20 championship 2016 kicks off in Manchester.

Three of the six matches may give fans a sense of déjà vu – with the same encounters having taken place at last year's senior World Cup.

Defending U20 champions New Zealand tackle tournament debutants Georgia, Australia meet Scotland and Japan tackle South Africa.

Few will forget the heroics Japan's senior team performed in Brighton to stun South Africa on the opening weekend of England 2015 and Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron has inevitably been asked the question whether it could happen again at under-20 level.

"I think there is a lot of talk about that match and a lot of people are asking that question, but I believe that your first game in the World Cup is the most important, whether that be against Japan or Scotland, France or England," insisted Theron ahead of his sixth U20 championship as coach.

"You need to lay the foundation, you can't go out there and try to do something silly or something differently. We are actually going into this game as our most important game in front of us and that is how we are going to treat every game.

"We expect Japan to be motivated, competitive and they will try to run at us. They will also put a lot of effort into the set pieces, so we are anticipating a tough challenge all around."

His counterpart Ryuji Nakatake, who coached Japan's senior side to another Asia Championship crown last month, knows that South Africa's players will have "huge motivation" and "think that we should beat them", but his focus is solely on his players.

"We are thinking just about ourselves, nobody else," insisted Nakatake, whose starting line-up features all six players in his squad who have already played test rugby for the Brave Blossoms, including four of them in the backline.

"We are keeping our feet on the ground because our players are very young and there is a danger they could panic. We have told them a lot that we just need to keep both feet on the ground, keep calm and not concentrate too much on South Africa."

Scotland will also have a player with a test appearance to his name in prop Zander Fagerson, who made his senior debut against England during the Six Nations, when they take on Australia in Pool B in what is a repeat of the last year's senior World Cup quarterfinal between the two nations.

Twelve players in the match-day squad have experience of the U20 championship, including captain Scott Cummings who insists he and his team-mates are eager to put on a show against an Australian side that beat New Zealand for the first time in the Oceania Championship last month.

"I know many of the guys who played in that game and I know that they were gutted about how close it was and I think that drives us on," the second row insisted.

"That showed Scotland is a strong team and can compete with other teams in the world, so we'll be going into the game trying to do the best we possibly can.

"I'm sure they will be quite confident but we've got to go in with confidence as well and believe we are a good team as well. One of our goals as under-20s is to make Scotland a world-class team and to achieve that we need good performances against every team."

Australia coach Adrian Thompson was impressed by what he saw of Scotland during the Six Nations, but is keen for his side to play their game against an opponent they have beaten on all three occasions they have met in this tournament.

"They look really organised and probably the best Scottish side I have seen in the years I have been watching the U20 Six Nations, really strong around the line-out, but we just need to make sure we get enough ball so we can challenge them and maybe play some footy they are not used to."

The final sense of déjà vu from last year's senior World Cup comes in the Pool A encounter between New Zealand and Georgia that concludes day one at the AJ Bell Stadium and that is understandable given the Junior Lelos will be led by Vasil Lobzhandize who played against the All Blacks in Cardiff.

Lobzhandize's name is already written into the history books as the youngest ever player in World Cup history – having played against Tonga aged just 18 years and 340 days last September – and he has a simple philosophy to ensure his teammates aren't overawed by their first opponents.

"Of course all of our players have massive respect for the black jersey and our opponent New Zealand, but we all have confidence because they are human beings just like us, they have two legs, two hands.

"Everybody is looking forward to the match and we will do our best because we want to prove to ourselves that we deserve to be here, among the elite nations in the U20 Championship."

The other Pool A match sees Wales take on Ireland at the Manchester City Academy Stadium, a side they edged 35-24 in Dublin en route to winning a first-ever Six Nations Grand Slam. Wales hold a 3-1 advantage in the head-to-head record at the U20 Championship, but captain Tom Phillips is not reading too much into that or their meeting earlier in the year.

"The whole [Six Nations] campaign was brilliant. The support we had, the performances and the wins we had and picking up that trophy at the end was fantastic. But we've put that to one side coming into this tournament knowing that the games are going to be just as tough if not probably tougher.

"Looking back to when we played them, they're the team that put most points on us so it is going to be very tough challenge. They play good rugby and they like to attack, and with it being the first game for both of us I am sure there will be a bit of rustiness."

The final match at that venue also features two Six Nations teams with hosts England taking on Italy, a side they convincingly beat 42-7 back in February when hooker Jack Singleton scored four tries.

England, though, have a new coach in Martin Haag at the helm since then and will run out behind a new captain on Tuesday with Northampton Saints centre Harry Mallinder given the nod to lead his country on his U20 debut.

"We have done our analysis on Italy but the priority in training has been what we can do as a team, how we constantly improve and drive standards," explained Haag. "We want our play to have its own identity and have concentrated on that.  

"We know that Italy are going to be stronger than they were in the Six Nations and will pose us some real questions but we are also looking forward to reacting to the opportunities we get through both attack and defence."

The opening match at AJ Bell Stadium sees France take on Argentina in the other Pool C match, an encounter featuring the two sides who have reached a U20 Championship semifinal but never made it into the title decider, Les Bleuets last year and Los Pumitas in 2012.

It may only be the opening day, but both coaching teams know the importance of a winning start with Argentina assistant coach Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe acknowledging that "if you win you're on your way to try and qualify for the semifinals and if you lose you're up against it".

France coach Olivier Magne agrees, but also knows it will be no easy task for his young charges.

"It will be the hardest match in the competition because it will be the first," insisted Magne. "This is the team that the Argentinian union has wanted for the past few years. They work alongside the Argentinian national team, who were able to show an incredible example by qualifying for the semifinals at World Cup 2015."

* For all the fixtures CLICK HERE!

Source: @WorldRugby

.@JuniorBoks captain Jeremy Ward on expectation back home and facing ???? in their first #WorldRugbyU20s match! pic.twitter.com/bqbsddOZc7

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 4, 2016