Uruguay are the Champions

Uruguay have been crowned the inaugural IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy champions after coming from behind to beat host nation Chile 20-8 in the final at the Stade Français Club in Santiago on Sunday.

Jamaica, who came last, would like to come back again.

At the end of the tournament IRB Tournaments Manager Philippe Bourdarias said: “This was a great success; for the International Rugby Board, for South American and Chilean rugby. The hosts deserve congratulations for the high level of expertise and hard work and the participants must be applauded for their commitment, passion and fair play in a very competitive tournament. I am delighted with every aspect of the tournament, from the large crowds to the enormous media coverage it generated, in Chile and around the world.”

Results

Day 1

Chile vs Cook Islands, 33-10
Georgia vs Jamaica, 90-3
Romania vs Namibia, 28-26
Uruguay vs Korea, 67-8

Day 2

Chile vs Namibia, 20-6
Georgia vs Korea, 50-31
Romania vs Cook Islands, 46-7
Uruguay vs Jamaica, 82-0

Day 3

Chile vs Romania, 14-3
Korea vs Jamaica, 55-17
Namibia vs Cook Islands, 25-14
Uruguay vs Georgia, 20-16

Day 4

Cook Islands vs Jamaica, 54-15
Georgia vs Romania, 34-10
Namibia vs Korea, 36-29
Uruguay vs Chile, 20-8

Match Reports

Uruguay vs Chile, 20-8

The early exchanges between the two teams, dominated by ferocious tackling and peppered with unforced errors, reflected the anxiety and emotion of the 30 players.

Overall it was a clash of the equals – two teams of similar size, similar desire to win, know-how and levels of skill who knew each other well, having met frequently at various age groups in a South American or international context.

The difference was clearly in the will to win of the Uruguayans – arguably the most complete Under-20 team in the tournament – as well as in their ability to master their own mistakes and control the set piece department.

With Chile frenetically supported by a partisan crowd of up to 7 000 spectators and scoring early the Uruguayans had to apply themselves to the task to be able to turn the game around and emerge victorious in the end.

Chile moved into an 8-0 lead following an early penalty from flyhalf Francisco González and an unconverted try by their gifted inside centre Ricardo Sifri. Sadly the try was the first and last sample of the potential of the Chile back division expected to do the talking on the day.

From that moment on Uruguay raised the pace of their game and their forwards tore into the Chileans with relish, which led a few minutes later to their first try with their huge lock Diego Magno at the scoring end of a ferocious Uruguayan drive. Flyhalf Germán Albanell converted for a half-time score of 8-7.
 
In the second half Uruguay piled on the pressure and Chile began to crumble. Their scrummage found itself shunted at every ball and although they managed to retain possession due to the savvy ability of their number 8 and captain Benjamín del Solar, the quality of the ball was nevertheless poor and prevented the Chilean backs from mounting any meaningful attack.

The situation was duplicated in the line-out, where the Uruguayans attacked every Chilean throw and managed to steal some significant balls when the host nation were attacking.
 
Chile managed to hang on to the slender one point margin until some 20 minutes into the second half when a drop goal by Albanell took Los Teritos into the lead for the first time.

Uruguay never looked back and with their ferociously competitive back row of the outstanding Juan Diego Ormaechea, captain Matías Fonseca and Juan Manuel Gaminara roaming the field they managed to take control of the proceedings.

A penalty from centre Geronimo Etcheverry rewarded their efforts and then, to add insult to injury, in the closing stages Albanell crashed over a bouncing ball fumbled by the Chilean defenders in the in goal on the left and converted his own try to take his personal tally to 12 points in the final and extend Uruguay’s lead to 20-8.

Uruguay’s victory means they not only get their hands on the inaugural trophy but also secure promotion to the IRB Junior World Championship in 2009 at the expense of the nation finishing bottom of that tournament in Wales this June.

Afterwards the president of the Union de Rugby del Uruguay, Gustavo Zerbino: “I am delighted. The boys played like true Uruguayans. A lot of hard work has gone into this win and we must thank the players and their coaches for the hard work they put in it.”

Scorers:

For Uruguay:
Tries: Magno, Albanell, ,
Cons: Albanell 2
Pen: Etcheverry
Drop: Albanell

For Chile:
Try: Sifri
Pen: Gonzalez

Teams:

Chile: 15 Santiago Fuenzalida, 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 Felipe Yaconi, 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 Patricio Valladares, 20 Alonso Oliver, 21 Juan José Ruiz, 22 José Ignacio Larenas

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

Referee: Javier Mancuso (Argentina)
Touch judges: Ucha Narimanidze (Georgia), Marcin Zeszutek (Poland)

Georgia vs Romania, 34-10

It may not have been the match that Georgia wanted to be involved in on the final day of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, but they made sure they exited the tournament by producing their best performance to beat Romania 34-10 in the third place playoff on Sunday.

Georgia were very effective in the backs – all five tries came from them – and strong up front at the Stade Français Club in Santiago, while also denying the Romanians many opportunities to get on the scoreboard after they had taken the lead with a first minute penalty by their flyhalf Alin Georgescu.

In fact 54 minutes elapsed before Romania added to that early penalty, by which time Georgia were in complete control of the match having scored four tries to stretch their half-time advantage of 10-3 into a comfortable 27-3 lead.

Georgia’s first two tries came in the 10 minutes before half-time through wing Alexandre Tuchashvili and fullback Vakhtang Kavtidze. They didn’t have long to wait for a third try, Tuchashvili claiming his second of the match after running along the line and evading the Romanian defence.

Replacement Goderdzi Joglidze kicked the conversion and added a penalty soon afterwards before flyhalf Lasha Khmaladze scored Georgia’s fourth try in the 52nd minute to all but wrap up the bittersweet victory for the Georgians who had come to Chile with the goal of winning the inaugural title.

Romania did cut the deficit when fullback Robert Topala scored and then converted his own try, but Georgia had the final say in the match with a fifth try from their backline through scrumhalf Giorgi Rokhvadze in the 69th minute, converted again by Joglidze, the leading point scorer in the tournament with only the final remaining.

Scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Tuchashvili, Kavtidze, Tuchashvili, Khmaladze, Rokhvadze
Cons: Joglidze 3
Pen: Joglidze

For Romania:
Try: Topala
Con: Topala
Pen: Georgescu

Teams:

Romania: 15 Robert Topala, 14 Georgel Catuna, 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 Nichita Iacob, 1 Petre Zapan
Replacements: 16 Eduard Marinca, 17 Constantin Dumitru, 18 Florin Enache, 19 David Maris, 20 Lucian Morosan, 21 Ionut Puisoru, 22 Ionut Florea

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

Referee: Heykel Bahroun (Tunisia)
Touch judges: Salvador Encinas (Chile), Jaime Vial (Chile)
Match Commissioner Patrick Hurley (Chile)

Namibia vs Korea, 36-29

Namibia won the match while Korea stole the hearts of the rugby public here in the playoff for fifth place in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Santiago.

The Koreans started the match in a confident mood and it was quite clear from the early exchanges that they would provide Namibia, the favourites, with a tough challenge. While the Korean ball control improved in leaps and bounds from the outset of the tournament and to a large extent secured the continuity of their attacks, it was the slick passing and the timed release of the ball in the tackle that kept them going.

After a few minutes of frantic action, Korea scored the first try following a textbook move with the forwards driving from a lineout on the right. It was continued by the resourceful wing forward Kim Ji Woong, who broke off from the back of the driving maul with the ball in hand, then followed by a swift attack on the open side involving the live-wire scrumhalf Park Sung Jun and centre Lee Sung Beom, who eventually put left wing Kim Gwong Min through for the opening try.

The Korean score acted as a wakeup call for the Namibians, who had showed only glimpses of the class displayed in their previous matches, and somehow Murray Hugo followed through a move which seem destined to stall into the lineout and go over for Namibia’s opening try.

For most of the first half played at a frantic pace, the scores followed a similar pattern, with the Koreans making a break only for Namibia to bounce back from the abyss. The second Korean try was scored in a similar fashion by their influential number 8 Kim Hyun Soo, only for Namibia’s omnipresent scrumhalf Ashley Tjombe to reply, a try converted by Shawn Kaizemi.

The intensity of the first half an hour left the Korean forwards out of breath and the Namibians promptly capitalised by scoring a fine individual try through their fullback Robert Herridge, duly converted by Kaizemi.

After half-time, Namibia dynamised by a passionate half-time plea from coach Eden Meyer, sprang into action. Dynamic hooker Theo Coetzee and Herridge with his second touched down early in the second half and it looked as if their side had the measure of their opponents.

But obviously they misjudged the mood of the Koreans who rallied around their captain Lee Chang Suk and responded in style with a try through their lock forward Mun Ho Jun, converted by right wing In Seo In Soo.

The match maintained the furious pace at the start of the second half when Kaizemi cut through a strangely lethargic Korean defence to score Namibia fifth try.

This was the moment the Koreans surprised both their opponents and the public and bounced back into attack with a vengeance.

Two quick tries by the enormously powerful loose head Shin Young Jin and the remarkably assertive number 8 Kim Hyun Soo brought Korea back within a converted try.

For the following 15 minutes the Koreans camped into the Namibian 22, but a combination of gallant Namibian defence and unforced errors in attack doomed their better efforts. On one occasion it looked as if they had scored a try when their scrumhalf Park Sung Jun dived over from a ruck near the line, but Romanian referee Horatiu Bargaunas disallowed it for an earlier offence.

It was a match Korea could and should have won, having improved from their shaky debut against Uruguay two weeks ago in every area of the game. Namibia, on the other hand, confirmed their raising status in the game and, with many of their squad still available next year, they will be a difficult side to beat in the next JWRT.
 
After thge match Namibian fluhalf Jacques Nell said: “I am very happy really. Korea are a very difficult side to play against, they are much better than we expected. They surprised us in the first half as their defence was very quick and disrupted our back line.

“At half-time our coach asked us to align deeper and as a result we could score a couple of good tries. The last minutes were real hell, but we managed to keep them out and I am please that we finished fifth.”

Scorers:

For Namibia:
Tries: Hugo, Tjombe, Herridge 2, Coetzee, Kaizemi
Cons: Kaizemi 3

For Korea:
Tries: Kim Gwong Min, Kim Hyun Soo 2, Mun Ho Jun, Shin Young
Cons: Seo In Soo 2

Teams:

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

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

Referee: Horatiu Bargaunas Romania)
Touch judges: Marcin Zeszutek Poland), Salvador Encinas (Chile)

Cook Islands vs Jamaica, 54-15

Cook Islands ended their participation in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with a satisfying 54-15 win against Jamaica at the Stade Français Club in Santiago on Sunday to finish in seventh place.

Their win was based on their attacking qualities yet lacked some of the glow because of the defensive attitude of the plucky Jamaicans who would simply not lie down. They tackled throughout the game and if beaten it was due to either the strength or superior skills of the Cook Islanders.
 
Both teams can return home in the knowledge that their tournament has ended with them showing some bits of good rugby.

Although Cook Islands scored nine tries, Jamaica managed to score twice, much to their team and the spectators’ delight.

Their celebration of the second try by Kenneth Walker – who benefited from a recovered ball and good running from team mate Fabian Atkinson – was a highlight of the match.
 
Whilst the players from the Pacific dominated the scrums, the lineouts were a far more even set piece, with the boys from the Caribbean stealing a few of the opposition ball.
 
Overall, both teams enjoyed the occasion and the spectators who ventured in early in what promises to be a full house at the Stade Français, enjoyed a game that was far from being technically perfect but with the way both teams threw the ball around ensured it was a most enjoyable occasion.

Afterwards Jamaican flank Clifford Clarke said: “The way we have been treated by everybody here has been great. We’ve learnt huge lessons, one of which being that we need to work harder as the teams we played against were all big.
 
“We sincerely hope that we can come back to this tournament next year and after this year’s experience we will certainly be a lot better.”

Scorers:

For Cook Islands:
Tries: Enua 2, Clarken, Pamatatau 3, Nipurahi, Woonton, Uitime, , , ,
Con: Toru 2, Turley
Pens: Turley

For Jamaica:
Tries: Mignott, Walker
Con: Tapper
Pen: Brown

Teams:

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

Jamaica: 15 Sebastian Stewart, 14 Renaldo Wade, 13 Fabian Atkinson, 12 Tyronie Rowe, 11 Kenneth Walker, 10 Smeathan Tapper, 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 Demetri Barrett, 17 Keith Dawson, 18 Terrence Morris, 19 Trafelous Walker, 20 Roxroy Alcott, 21 Keta Bryan, 22 Jerome Whyte

Referee: Gustavo Gerbasi (Uruguay)
Touch judges: Jaime Vial (Chile), Ucha Narimanidze (Georgia)

Match reports by the IRB