New Zealand Under 20 team named for #JWC2014 semifinal
New Zealand’s Under 20 team to face South Africa in the second semifinal of the IRB Junior World Championship in Auckland tomorrow, has been named.
The team is:
1 Atunaisa Moli
2 Epalahame Faiva
3 Tau Koloamatangi
4 James Tucker
5 Geoffrey Cridge
6 Kyle Harris
7 Lachlan Boshier
8 Tom Sanders
9 Mitchell Drummond
10 Richie Mo’unga
11 Tevita Li
12 TJ Faiane
13 Anton Lienert-Brown, captain
14 Vince Tavae –Aso
15 Damian McKenzie
Reserves:
16 James O’Reilly
17 Scott Mellow
18 Tim Cadwallader
19 Mathew Peni
20 Troy Callander
21 Josh Renton
22 Kaveinga Finau
23 David Havili
Richie Mo’unga assumes the director’s duties after skipper Simon Hickey’s campaigned ended with a high ankle strain following New Zealand’s 54-7 victory over Scotland on Tuesday night. That match saw New Zealand edge ahead of Australia to claim the last semifinals berth.
“Richie has already demonstrated that he is more than capable of stepping up to the mark. He started in the 10 jersey for our first match against Samoa, and he is well supported by Damian McKenzie with kicking duties.
“We’ve had a good week but we know that we have a tough battle ahead of us. South Africa really dominated us in that last pool match and we know we have to be competitive physically and accurate with our own set piece if we want to win.
“Last time we didn’t really get to play our brand of rugby, so we do want to be able to compete up front, hold on to the ball, and get over the gain line.
“We’ve learned lots of lessons, but we know South Africa will come out firing against the black jersey. Tomorrow night will be an epic battle, and we’re looking forward to it.
Anton Lienert-Brown, who assumed the captaincy role from Hickey said they were focussed but excited to play in the semifinal tomorrow night.
“It’s pretty special to be able to play at home in New Zealand, but we know that there will be lots of South African supporters at QBE Stadium tomorrow night. We need all the support we can get so we encourage all New Zealand and sports fans to get down to North Harbour tomorrow night and support New Zealand,” he said.
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