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World Rugby U20 Championship: Pool C team by team guide

South Africa and Fiji scaled the heights at DHL Stadium last Wednesday, striking a pose on the roof (Photo by World Rugby)

Pool C at the World Rugby U20 Championship will pit England, the reigning Six Nations age-grade champions, against host nation South Africa, who finished second in the inaugural age-grade Rugby Championship that was held on the Australian Gold Coast.

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It will be round three in Athlone on July 9 when that fancied duo – last year’s beaten semi-finalists – go head-to-head in an intriguing group that also contains a dangerous Argentina and a little-known Fiji. Here is the RugbyPass team by team guide to the World Rugby U20 Championship Pool C:

SOUTH AFRICA (Seeded 3)
COACH: Bafana Nhleko;
CAPTAIN: Zachary Porthen;
LAST YEAR: Third. Scrapped into semi-finals on the head-to-head rule following shock pool loss to Italy but Ireland picked them off, leaving them playing for bronze versus England;
THIS YEAR: Second in The Rugby Championship, a round two loss to Australia a low point following an opening day draw with New Zealand;
FIXTURES: June 29 vs Fiji (Cape Town, 7pm), July 4 vs Argentina (Stellenbosch, 7pm), July 9 vs England (Athlone, 7pm);
ONE TO WATCH: JF van Heerden.

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THEY SAY: “For us, it’s about excelling in our fundamentals, maintaining our strengths around playing from set-piece and being in a position to make the right decisions when there are opportunities. The contact area behaviours will be key on both sides of the ball” – Coach Nhleko.

WE SAY: The pressure is on even more than was the case last year as the iconic DHL Stadium has been added to the list of venues, bringing the tournament into the heart of the Mother City. South Africa will be expected to deliver but they couldn’t handle this host nation situation a year ago, playing too much with the handbrake on. Here’s hoping they won’t be as similarly blunt in their approach this time.

Fixture
World Rugby U20 Championship
South Africa U20
57 - 7
Full-time
Fiji U20
All Stats and Data

TRIVIA: South Africa have reached the semi-finals in every tournament bar 2011 when they finished fifth.

ROUND ONE TEAM: 1. Ruan Swart, 2. Luca Bakkes, 3. Zach Porthen (capt), 4. Bathobele Hlekani, 5. JF van Heerden, 6. Sibabalwe Mahashe, 7. Thabang Mphafi, 8. Tiaan Jacobs; 9. Asad Moos, 10. Liam Koen; 11. Lili Bester, 12. Joshua Boulle, 13. Jurenzo Julius, 14. Joel Leotlela, 15. Michail Damon. Reps: 16. Juan Smal, 17. Liyema Ntshanga, 18. Casper Badenhorst, 19. Keanu Coetsee, 20. Divan Fuller, 21. Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22. Tylor Sefoor, 23. Likhona Finca.

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ENGLAND (4)
COACH: Mark Mapletoft;
CAPTAIN: Finn Carnduff;
LAST YEAR: Fourth after losing semi-final to France and then bronze match to South Africa;
THIS YEAR: Six Nations champions after an unbeaten campaign culminated in a draw with title rivals Ireland at Bath followed by a spectacular comeback win over the French in Pau;
FIXTURES: June 29 vs Argentina (Athlone, 2pm local), July 4 vs Fiji (Athlone, 4:30pm), July 9 vs South Africa (Athlone, 7pm);
ONE TO WATCH: Henry Pollock.

THEY SAY: “Our pool stage fixtures are an exciting bill of opponents with varying styles and approaches to the game that will test our capabilities in a short turnaround between matchdays. The players, staff and I are excited to make the country proud” – Coach Mapletoft.

WE SAY: Defeat last time out in Georgia can play to England’s advantage in the same way it did last year when a loss in Tbilisi was following by a gritty pool campaign that got them through to the semi-finals. They were immense when beating France in the Six Nations, their second-half display a showcase in how to entertain.

TRIVIA: Seven uncapped players have travelled, highlighting the England approach to keep shaking things up.

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ROUND ONE TEAM: 1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2. Craig Wright, 3. Billy Sela, 4. Joe Bailey, 5. Junior K’poku, 6. Finn Carnduff (capt), 7. Henry Pollock, 8. Nathan Michelow; 9. Ollie Allan, 10. Josh Bellamy; 11. Alex Wills, 12. Sean Kerr, 13. Oli Spencer, 14. Jack Bracken; 15. Ben Redshaw. Reps: 16. James Isaacs, 17. Cameron Miell, 18. Afolabi Fasogbon, 19. Olamide Sodeke, 20. Kane James, 21. Lucas Friday, 22. Benjamin Coen, 23. Ioan Jones.

ARGENTINA (9)
COACH: Alvaro Galindo;
CAPTAIN: Elias Efrain;
LAST YEAR: Squeezed out trying to make the semi-finals by South Africa, whom they were leading at half-time in their final pool match. Ultimately had to settled for a disappointing ninth-place finish;
THIS YEAR: Third in the inaugural Rugby Championship. Defeated Australia in the opening round before falling to two defeats, the last one another narrow loss to South Africa;
FIXTURES: June 29 vs England (Athlone, 2pm), July 4 vs South Africa (Stellenbosch, 7pm), July 9 vs Fiji (Stellenbosch, 2pm);
ONE TO WATCH: Franco Rossetto.

THEY SAY: “Participating in the Championship was super important, especially to see the players in competition and to meet as a team beforehand, to see what thing that didn’t go well, what things did and where we can lean on. It was fundamental in the preparation.. and the objective now is clearly for all the players to compete and above all improve what we did last year” Coach Galindo.

WE SAY: They are a team well capable on their day of out-manoeuvring both England and South Africa, but discipline will be crucial if they are to cause an upset or two.

TRIVIA: Los Pumitas conceded a yellow card in each of their U20 Rugby Championship games, conceding an average of five points while they were short-handed.

ROUND ONE TEAM: 1. Diego Correa, 2. Juan Manuel Vivas, 3. Tomas Rapetti, 4. Efrain Elias (capt), 5. Alvaro Garcia Landolino, 6. Juan Penoucos, 7. Santos Fernandez de Oliveira, 8. Juan Pedro Bernasconi; 9. Genaro Podesta, 10. Santino Di Lucca; 11. Franco Rossetto, 12. Faustino Sanchez Valarolo, 13. Tomas Bocco, 14. Timoteo Silva, 15. Benjamin Elizalde. Reps: 16. Juan Greising Revol, 17. Joaquin Yakiche, 18. Gael Galvan, 19. Ignacio Torrado, 20. Agustin Sarelli, 21. Tomas Di Biase, 22. Facundo Rodriguez, 23. Gregorio Perez Pardo.

Fixture
World Rugby U20 Championship
England U20
40 - 21
Full-time
Argentina U20
All Stats and Data

FIJI (10)
COACH: Apisai Sailada;
CAPTAIN: Nelani May;
LAST YEAR: Had it tough in the pool but came good in the semi-final play-offs to finish 10th;
THIS YEAR: Enjoyed recent success in the Oceania tournament versus Pacific neighbours Tonga, Moana Pasifika and Samoa;
FIXTURES: June 29 vs South Africa (Cape Town, 7pm), July 4 vs England (Athlone, 4.30pm), July 9 vs Argentina (Stellenbosch, 2pm);
ONE TO WATCH: Aisea Nawai.

THEY SAY: “When they told us that there was a problem with our visas, we were disheartened at first, but we didn’t give up, we prayed and we read the bible and fasted and we thanked God for his guidance and giving us this opportunity to travel to Cape Town” Prop Anare Caginavanua.

WE SAY: Their staggered arrival in Cape Town could leave them underprepared; a dozen players had visa issues before being cleared to fly. They possess ball skills in abundance but set-piece is poised to be their undoing versus opposition that love to scrum and maul.

TRIVIA: Skipper May isn’t only adept at rugby as he has also been a national level basketball pick.

ROUND ONE TEAM: 1. Anare Caginavanua, 2. Moses Armstrong-Ravula, 3. Breyton Legge, 4. Iliesa Erenavula, 5. Nalani May (capt), 6. Ebernezer Tuidraki, 7. Ronald Sharma, 8. Simon Koroiyadi; 9. Aisea Nawai, 10. Bogidrau Kikau; 11. Avakuki Niusalelekitoga, 12. Ratu Isikeli Rabitu, 13. Sivaniolo Kalaveti, 14. Waisake Salabiau, 15. Isikeli Basiyalo. Reps: 16. Joshua Uluibau, 17. Mataiasi Tuisireli, 18. Luke Nasau, 19. Malakai Masi, 20. Ratu Nemani Kurucake, 21. Pauliasi Korobiau, 22. Ponipate Tuberi, 23. Joseva Ubitau.

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Comments

1 Comment
S
SteveD 372 days ago

Most overused word these days - ‘iconic’. It's just a stadium! But admittedly very nice.

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J
JW 18 minutes ago
France push All Blacks to 80th minute in narrow Dunedin defeat

Haha that’s what rot is. It’s actually worse, it’s a gradual decline without even knowing it’s happening or where!


No, I don’t think I was displeased with the performance from memory. I thought Ireland were great (for a then Ireland performance) and got the lucky bounces/decisions, and that maybe Hansen was making some poor calls (Kaino, Julian etc).


But then we just keep getting Julian picked again and again. Then we hear how the buildup to the game was treated.


Oh yes, not bad. Little things a battler like NZ really can’t get wrong though. On the field it was really the evidence they just purely didn’t have the skills to beat a rush defence, but they rebounded well and might still have been the best team at the 2019 World Cup, all considered.


If you’re looking purely at results (and not the rot itself) that 2016 was better than anything wasn’t it. It was purely that a poor coach was given the job in 2020 that most would associate with a decline, but of course it wasn’t a decline, it was just a poor choice of process and selection of All Blacks coaching.


If we hadn’t of had those bad years, the world probably looks on last years results a completely different way and would still rate them the best side in the world (having done well away from home and got unlucky). Because they were made to look so bad previously though people are choosing to still see that. So I think there was a decline in the standards of how NZ rugby commanded itself that saw things like the coaches get stagnant and complacent, smug, back then, but I don’t think that necessarily aligns with what you’re trying to say about a decline.

227 Go to comments
J
JW 36 minutes ago
France push All Blacks to 80th minute in narrow Dunedin defeat

Yes, is most the rugby home to Pay TV, and FTA gets its pieces after if interested?


Can you pin point a time to when the broadcasting of the tour was confirmed? Before or after Galthies comments that top players would tour.


Thinking about it now, actually (after having this discussion with jfp123) what he said back then about the top 20 not touring would have been a better result!


It’s good theres interest, but this might have been helped by the controversy really. One poster said Live viewers for this sort of game/tour might not amount to more than 100k, that’s an incredibly low number even considering total subscribers.


Has their been talk about whether FFR lost out on funding/broadcast revenue because of the stance?


I’ve been meaning to go check but how would the end of this (regular) Top 14 season have panned out if it was a pure ladder based comp, like football their right?


Exciting times ahead for sure. Sorry for all the questions don’t feel like you need to answer I was just throwing out thoughts. Like I really wonder exactly where the clubs are coming from. There is huge benefit to having players in these matches, it drives world wide viewers and fans. Is it a insurance issue? Are they worried about having the player ruled out for a whole season by injury? And you don’t need to worry about Kiwis understanding pro sports, they heavily follow american club sports and League (rugby) and Cricket are both bigger sports than rugby (than in France specifically) here (including Aus) and are dominated by club, IPL and NRL (which is why we know what the TOP 14 is doing is not the best way, because these sports here weren’t always like that).

227 Go to comments
E
Ed the Duck 51 minutes ago
Who is telling the truth about France's tour of New Zealand?

So Nick you’ve certainly prompted a little debate this time! Been thinking through your main point and there’s a wider context that delivered the tour outcome that you haven’t touched on by focusing solely on French playing time.


Q. Are 2000 minutes AND 25 games sensible welfare limits? Yes and particularly if the French have decided this, since it’s their unalienable right to do so.

Q. Why have the clubs not ensured the players remained within that for the NZ tour, a la SA model? Because their league is the most commercially successful in the world and they own the rights to the players, clubs are entitled to say when they play as things stand.

Q. Why do the Top14 play offs take place so late? Because they eliminated Top 14 games from the 6N period which extended their calendar.


Now, the real crux of this comes down to resting players to stay below the limits in preparation for the summer tour and that’s where the FFR/LNR agreement appears to have failed. Unlike England, where the RFU pays large sums to retain those controls AND ensure player welfare is respected, the French have a different agreement.


Now, if WR are unhappy with this then they know who to talk to but it will be a difficult conversation against the backdrop, and ultimate driver of this scenario, which is the success of the Top 14.


NZR ofc, knew EXACTLY what they were getting, since players touring is one among many aspects covered by tour agreements. Just look at the Lions issue with Aus to see that.


And after all that has been said and done, the French didn’t do too badly after all, did they…???

523 Go to comments
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