Under-20 Championship, Round One - Teams and Predictions

PREVIEW: Four-time champions England and 2012 champions South Africa are joined by Australia and Scotland in a difficult Pool A at this year’s World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy.

All the action of Round One gets underway on Sunday.

The Junior Boks play Australia in their Pool A opening match on Sunday in Calvisano.

The starting team to take on Australia on Sunday shows four changes from their last match in the recent U20 Rugby Championship against New Zealand.

Junior Bok head coach Kevin Foote made one change in the backline and three in the pack from the side that were pipped by New Zealand in Gqeberha last month. Siya Ndlozi replaces Gino Cupido on the left wing, while the rest of the backline remains the same.

In the starting pack, two changes are made on the side of the scrum, with flankers Batho Hlekani and Xola Nyali forming the loose trio combination with No. 8 Wandile Mlaba.

The other tweak to the pack is in the front row, where Herman Lubbe gets the nod at tighthead ahead of Jean Erasmus, who is now set to play off the bench. Jaco Grobbelaar (lock), who joined up with the squad shortly before they flew out from Cape Town, is also set to join the action off the bench.

Amongst the backline replacements, Ian van der Merwe (flyhalf) and Jaco Williams (outside back) are in line to make their Junior Bok debuts should they come off the bench.

According to Foote, his charges are looking forward to the prospect of facing a quality Australia outfit in the opening match on Sunday. The last time these two sides met, in the U20 Rugby Championship, the young Wallabies overturned a 17-point deficit in a tactically astute second-half performance to beat the Junior Boks by 29-24 in Gqeberha.

“We are extremely excited about starting the World Championship in Italy,” said Foote.

“It’s a great country, and you can feel the energy within the group. The players have prepared well, they’ve got clarity, and they are just such a great group together.”

On selecting his first matchday squad of the tournament, Foote explained that it was not an easy task.

“Selection is always tough and leaving some guys out is hard, but we’ve gone with a team that has played a lot together now, has a lot of synergy and understanding of our game, and knows how to connect on the field,” he said.

“We are very excited about the team that we have selected, with Riley Norton captaining the side, and he will be assisted by Haashim Pead, JJ Theron, and Siphosethu Mnebelele.”

Foote also mentioned it was good to have Grobbelaar back with the team after the big lock completed his United Rugby Championship duties with finalists Bulls.

“He’s trained very well since joining (last week),” he said.

“Having his big physical presence is fundamental to the way we want to play, and the same goes for Jaco Williams (outside back), who also joined late after completing his URC campaign with the Sharks. The nice thing about them is the calmness that they bring to their roles.”

With defending champions England and the tenacious Scotland also in the same group, Foote said the South Africans are looking forward to getting the annual event underway.

“All of us are looking forward to starting the tournament,” he said. “We are excited about the challenge from Australia, and we cannot wait to get going.”

Rugby’s future stars will play matches across four cities in the Lombardia and Veneto regions of Italy – Calvisano, Rovigo, Verona, and Viadana.

Australia were strong contenders when the U20 Championship first began, finishing fifth in 2008, then making it into the semi-finals in the next three editions.

However, thereafter, the Australians have struggled to hit the same heights, only making it into the last four on one occasion since. They have twice appeared in the final of the tournament, beaten comfortably by New Zealand in 2010 and suffering an agonising one-point loss to France in 2019.

In this year’s U20 Rugby Championship in South Africa, they went unbeaten, beating the hosts as well as Argentina, and recording a tense draw with New Zealand, who took the title on account of having one more competition point.

The Australians come into this tournament in good form and are hoping to claim their first U20 Championship title.

All the Round One teams and predictions follow below …

Sunday, June 29

Australia vs South Africa
(Stadio San Michele, Calvisano – Kick-off: 15.30; 23.30 AEST)

Prediction:

@Rugby365: South Africa by seven points

Teams

Australia: 15 Sid Harvey, 14 Cooper Watters, 13 Xavier Rubens, 12 Boston Fakafanua, 11 Shane Wilcox,10 Joey Fowler, 9 Hwi Sharples, 8 Beau Morrison, 7 Tom Robinson, 6 Eli Langi, 5 Eamon Doyle (captain), 4 Charlie Brosnan, 3 Trevor King, 2 Lipina Ata, 1 Finn Baxter
Replacements: 16 Ollie Barrett, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Edwin Langi, 19 Joe Mangelsdorf, 20 Toby Brial, 21 Aden Ekanayake, 22 James Martens, 23 Joe Dillon

South Africa: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 Albie Bester, 11 Siyabonga Ndlozi, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 JJ Theron, 4 Riley Norton (captain), 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 1 Simphiwe Ngobese
Replacements: 16 Jaundre Schoeman, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Erich Visser, 22 Ian van der Merwe, 23 Jaco Williams

Referee: Furuse Katsuki (Japan)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Lorenzo Pedezzi (Italy)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

England U20 vs Scotland U20
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 UK time)

Prediction: 

@Rugby365: England by 10 points

Teams

England: 15 Josh Bellamy, 14 Jack Bracken, 13 Nick Lilley, 12 Will Knight, 11 Tyler Offiah, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Jonny Weimann, 8 Kane James, 7 Samuyel Silliams, 6 George Timmins, 5 Junior Kpoku, 4 Tom Burrow, 2 Louie Gulley, 1 Ralph McEachran
Replacements: 16 Kepyu Tuipulotu, 17 Oli Scola, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Campbell Ridl, 23 Ben Redshaw

Scotland: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Nairn Moncrieff, 13 Johnny Ventisei (captain), 12 Kerr Yule, 11 Fergus Watson, 10 Matthew Urwin, 9 Noah Cowan, 8 Reuben Logan, 7 Oliver Duncang, 6 Charlie Moss, 5 Dan Halkon, 4 Bart Godsell, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Joe Roberts, 1 Jake Shearer
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Oliver McKenna, 18 Jamie Stewart, 19 Dylan Cockburn, 20 Mark Fyffe, 21 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 22 Hector Patterson, 23 Jack Hocking

Referee: Marcus Playle (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Tomas Bertazza (Argentina), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

France U20 vs Spain U20
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off: 18.00; 18.00 France & Spain time)

Prediction:

@Rugby365: France by 14 points

Teams

France: 15 Xan Mousques, 14 Tom Leveque, 13 Lucas Vigneres, 12 Robin Taccola, 11 Nolann Donguy, 10 Luka Keletaona, 9 Baptiste Tilloles, 8 Mathis Baret, 7 Noa Traversier, 6 Baptiste Britz, 5 Charles Kante Samba, 4 Corentin Mezou, 3 Lenny Alifanety, 2 Quentin Algay, 1 Edouard Jabea Njocke.
Replacements: 16 Lyam Akrab, 17 Lorencio Boyer-Gallardo, 18 Mohamed Megherbi, 19 Bartholome Sanson, 20 Bobby Bissu, 21 Elyjah Ibsaiene, 22 Simeli Daunivucu, 23 Diego Jurd.

Spain: 15 Lucien Richardis, 14 Beltran Ortega, 13 Unax Zuiarrain, 12 Hugo Pichardie, 11 Pablo Mateos, 10 Gonzalo Otamendi, 9 Nico Infer, 8 Manex Pujana, 7 Marcal Carreras, 6 Cael Almorin, 5 Liam Mcnamee, 4 Guardin Gonzalez, 3 Guio Reyes, 2 Pau Massoni (captain), 1 Alberto Gomez
Replacements: 16 Marcos Perez, 17 Danie Chico, 18 Victor Deojetu, 19 Marcos Lopez, 20 Nico Cali, 21 Jaime Powys, 22 Jorce Carreta, 23 Hugo Gonzalez

Referee: Filippo Russo (France)
Assistant Referees: Tomas Bertazza (Argentina), Morgan White (Hong Kong China)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

Argentina U20 vs Wales U20
(Payanini Center, Verona – Kick-off: 20.30; 15.30 Argentina time; 19.30 Wales time)

Prediction:

@Rugby365: Argentina by 11 points

Teams

Argentina:15 Pascal Senillosa, 14 Timothy Silva, 13 Pedro Coll, 12 Felipe Ledesma (captain), 11 Baptist Lescano, 10 Rafael Benedit, 9 Felix Corleto, 8 Agustin Garcia Campos, 7 Santiago Corleto, 6 Tomas Dande, 5 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 4 Tomas Duclos, 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Tadeo Ledesma Arocena, 1 Juan Rodriquez
Replacements: 16 Jeronimo Otano, 17 Diego Strap, 18 Gael Galvan, 19 Valentino Freiria, 20 Pampa Storey, 21 Fabricio Griffo, 22 Ramon Fernandez Miranda, 23 Aquiles Vieyra

Wales: 15 Jack Woods, 14 Elijah Evans, 13 Osian Roberts, 12 Steffan Emanuel, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Harri Ford, 9 Sion Davies, 8 Evan Minto, 7 Harry Beddall (captain), 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Nick Thomas, 4 Kenzie Jenkins, 3 Sam Scott, 2 Harry Thomas, 1 Ioan Emanuel.
Replacements: 16 Saul Hurley, 17 Louie Trevett, 18 Owain James, 19 Dan Gemine, 20 Caio James, 21 Ellis Lewis, 22 Harri Wilde, 23 Tom Bowen.

Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Morgan White (Hong Kong China), Franco Rosella (France)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Ireland U20 vs Georgia U20
(Stadio San Michele, Calvisano – Kick-off: 18.00; 17.00 Ireland time; 20.00 Georgia time)

Prediction:

@Rugby365: Ireland by 19 points

Teams

Ireland: 15 Charlie Molony, 14 Paidi Farrell, 13 Ciaran Mangan, 12 Eoghan Smyth, 11 Derry Mononey, 10 Tom Wood, 9 Clark Logan, 8 Luke Murphy, 7 Eanna McCarthy (captain), 6 Michael Foy, 5 Billy Corrigan, 4 Mahon Ronan, 3 Alex Mullan, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements: 16 Mikey Yarr, 17 Alex Usanov, 18 Tom McAllister, 19 Conor Kennelly, 20 Bobby Power, 21 Will Wootton, 22 Sam Wisniewski, 23 Daniel Green

Georgia: 15 Luka Takaishvili, 14 Luka Keshelava, 13 Data Akhvlediani, 12 Nugzari Kevkhishvili, 11 Tarieli Burtikashvili, 10 Gigi Sirbiladze, 9 Giorgi Spanderashvili, 8 Mikheili Shioshvili, 7 Andro Dvali, 6 Luka Narsia, 5 Gagui Margvelashvili, 4 Temur Tsulukidze, 3 Mate Gurtskaia, 2 Mikheil Khakhubia, 1 Bachuki Baratashvili.
Replacements: 16 Shota Kheladze, 17 Archil Nozadze, 18 Giorgi Meskhidze, 19 Nikolozi Chkhortolia, 20 Davit Baramia, 21 Temuri Dzodzuashvili, 22 Sandro Meskhidze, 23 Nika Abesadze.

Referee: Jeremy Rozier (France)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Alex Weiner (USA)
TMO: Graham Cooper (Australia)

New Zealand U20 vs Italy U20
(Stadio San Michele, Calvisano – Kick-off: 20.30; 6.30 Monday)

Prediction: New Zealand by 12 points

@Rugby365: 

Teams

New Zealand: 15 Rico Simpson, 14 Frank Vaenuku, 13 Cooper Roberts, 12 Jack Wiseman, 11 Stanley Solomon, 10 Will Cole, 9 Dylan Pledger, 8 Mosese Bason, 7 Caleb Woodley, 6 Finn McLeod. 5 Jayden Sa, 4 Xavier Treacy, 3 Logan Wallace, 2 Manumaua Letiu (captain), 1 Sika Pole
Replacements: 16 Shaun, Kempton, 17 Dane Johnston, 18 Robson Faleafa, 4 Randall Baker, 5 Micah Fale, 6 Jai Tamati, 7 Tayne Harvey, 8 Harlyn Saunoa

Italy: TBC

Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Alex Weiner (USA), Alberto Favaro (France)
TMO: Dan Jones (England)

Additional source @SARugby