World Rugby u20 Championship Pool A Preview
Georgia could have no harder debut at the World Rugby U20 Championship 2016 then facing defending champions New Zealand, but they are relishing the opportunity to play against the elite nations after winning the sister U20 Trophy last year.
The Junior Lelos, who will also face Six Nations Grand Slam winners Wales and Ireland in Pool A in Manchester, may be an unknown quantity but their captain needs no introduction having been part of their RWC 2015 squad.
Scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze (main image) already has 15 test appearances to his name and was nominated for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2015 after becoming the youngest player in Rugby World Cup history with his debut against Tonga at the tender age of 18 years and 340 days.
Lobzhanidze isn’t the only player in coach Ilia Maisuradze’s 28-man squad with test experience as vice-captain and number eight Beka Gorgadze, another of their U20 Trophy winning side, has six caps and prop Giorgi Melikidze two.
“As we are to have the most difficult tournament in our history so far and matches are every four days, we obviously will not have much time to work on major improvements and will spend time on recovery and analysis, so we tried to select a side with players being able to cover more than one position from game to game,” explained Maisuradze.
EXPERIENCE KEY FOR GEORGIA
“Experienced players will have a bigger role in tournaments like this because it is hugely important to resist the pressure which we obviously will have on us.
“The core of our team consists of players who have played together throughout all of Georgia’s age-grade teams, with some of them having played their part in last year’s successful U20 Trophy campaign.
“Obviously having players with senior international experience such as Giorgi Melikidze and Beka Gorgadze to select is an asset, but we are extremely lucky to have Vasil Lobzhanidze as our captain as his senior Rugby World Cup experience will be magnificent for the team.”
Georgia have already toured South America this year as part of their preparations, facing their Argentina and Uruguay counterparts twice each. They has since spent two weeks in camp working on strength and conditions and skill levels before returning on 1 May for a second camp.
The squad will break camp on 25 May after continuing to work on their skills and game plans before travelling to Manchester for their U20 Championship debut five days later and will be eager to showcase Georgian rugby well before hosting the tournament in 2017.
Georgia squad: Tornike Mataradze, Nika Neparidze, Lasha Sajaia, Luka Goginava, Giga Khuroshvili, Lasha Tabidze, Giorgi Melikidze, Mihkeil Babunashvili, Demur Epremidze, Otari Giogadze, Giorgi Javakhia, Ilia Spanderashvili, Irakli Tskhadadze, Giorgi Tsutskiridze, Beka Gorgadze, Gela Aprasidze, Vasil Lobzhanidze (captain), Davit Modzgvrishvili, Giorgi Koshadze, Sandro Iluridze, Giorgi Kveseldaze, David Meskhi, Vladimer Miminoshvili, Irakli Svandize, Mirian Modebadze, Aleksandr Merkvilishvili, Rati Shanidze, Guram Kandaurashvili.
GOOD BALANCE TO DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson has unveiled the 28-man squad charged with defending the World Rugby U20 Championship crown in England next month, one he believes has a “good balance”.
Robertson, who has seen his side draw the two-match series of the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship with Australia over the last week, is confident the squad offers skill sets and versatility that comes with experience and fresh faces.
“We’ve got six players from Super Rugby teams, two guys returning from last year’s team, and we have nine players young enough to be eligible to play again next year,” explained Robertson, who won the title in his first year as head coach in 2015.
“It’s a good balance – a little bit of experience, youth and exuberance from the young fellas, and the professionalism from the Super Rugby players.”
Mitchell Jacobson will become the first New Zealander to play in three World Rugby U20 Championships and will be joined this year by his younger brother and fellow back-row Luke.
Ready for the challenge
Jordie Barrett, the younger brother of 2011 title winner Beauden, impressed during the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship and is not the only player with an All Black connection, Fin Hoeata being the younger brother of former All Black and Maori All Black Jarrad Hoeata.
New Zealand will begin their title defence against tournament debutants Georgia on 7 June before facing Ireland and Six Nations Grand Slam winners Wales with only the Pool A winner guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals.
“We’re in a tough pool,” admitted Robertson, whose side won the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship crown by virtue of their better point differential.
“We’ve got Wales who won the Six Nations and Ireland who performed really well. We’ve also got Georgia. They’re new to the competition, after they won the tier two competition to come up and we know they love to scrum and maul and they are big men as well.
“We’re excited by the challenge of going back on the world stage, and we’ve got an attitude that we’ve got to go and win the title, not just defend it. We’re really pleased with the squad we have named today, and we have faith that they can step up to the challenge.”
The squad will assemble at Mt Maunganui on 27 May before facing the Chiefs Development side three days later in their final warm-up match before heading to England to defend their title.
New Zealand squad: Ayden Johnstone, Shaun Stodart, Sean Paranihi, Alex Fidow, Sosefo Kautai, Leni Apisai (captain), Asafo Aumua, Quinten Strange, Hamish Dalzell, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Fin Hoeata, Mitchell Jacobson, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’I, Marino Mikaele Tu’u, Hapakuki Moala-Liava’a, Jonathan Taumateine, Sam Nock, Stephen Perofeta, TJ Va’a, Orbyn Leger, Jordie Barrett, Patelesio Tomkinson, Jonah Lowe, Malo Tuitama, Caleb Makene, Shaun Stevenson, Jordan Trainor.
WALES SEEK FURTHER GROWTH
Wales have already created history this year with a first U20 Six Nations title and Grand Slam, but coach Jason Strange believes there is potential for further improvement ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship in June.
A dominant force during the Six Nations with some impressive performances, Wales are boosted by the return to full fitness of forward trio Seb Davies, Liam Belcher and Josh Macleod and winger Tom Williams.
“It was a tough selection process,” admitted Strange, in his first year as U20 coach. “It was difficult to cut a squad that had performed so well in the Six Nations, but the players coming back in certainly add an extra dimension.
“It’s good to get the players back into training and they are confident on the back of a major achievement in winning the Six Nations.
“We will certainly need to step up a level in order to compete with the top nations at the World Rugby U20 Championship, and the exciting part is that the coaches and players all feel we can improve by an extra 20 or 30 per cent.
THE PERFECT TEST
“So if we get that right, we have the opportunity to do well, and we will be working hard over the next six weeks to get that right.
“It’s a huge honour for the players to represent their country at a global tournament and we want to ensure they do themselves justice and enjoy every moment.”
Wales, who have reached the U20 Championship final once before – in 2013 when they lost to England, will face defending champions New Zealand, Ireland and tournament debutants Georgia in Manchester.
“Although we beat Ireland in Dublin, they made significant improvements during the tournament and beat England away from home,” added Strange.
“Georgia have improved enormously at age grade level, earning their place in this tournament by winning the World Rugby U20 Trophy, beating Canada in the final last year, while playing champions New Zealand is exactly the kind of test we want in order to develop our players to their full potential.”
Wales squad: Tom Phillips (captain), Rhys Fawcett, Corey Domachowski, Leon Brown, Kieron Assiratti, Dillon Lewis, Liam Belcher, Dafydd Hughes, Adam Beard, Seb Davies, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Shaun Evans, Harrison Keddie, Morgan Sieniawski, Josh Macleod, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Declan Smith, Daniel Jones, Billy McBryde, Jarrod Evans, Kieran Williams, Joe Thomas, Harri Millard, Tom Williams, George Gasson, Keelan Giles, Rhun Williams, Joe Gage.
NEW FACES FOR IRELAND
Ireland coach Nigel Carolan has named five uncapped players in his World Rugby U20 Championship squad as they look to build on a third-place finish in the Six Nations earlier this year.
Fly-half Bill Johnston has recovered from the shoulder injury that forced him to miss that campaign, while the other potential debutants are Vincent O’Brien, Evan Mintern, Vahk Abdaladze and David Aspil.
“We were happy with how the side progressed during the Six Nations Championship and we were pleased with how the players developed,” admitted Carolan. “I felt that we grew as a team over the course of the championship and that’s something we’re looking to bring to Manchester.
“We are certainly in one of the toughest pools. Wales are coming off the back of a Six Nations Grand Slam and New Zealand come into the competition as defending champions while the Georgians are always a very physical side so it is a big challenge for us.
“However, we have a very ambitious group of players that have prepared well so we are looking forward to giving it our best shot.”
Ireland squad: Andrew Porter, James Bollard, Vakh Abdaladze, Adam McBurney, Vincent O’Brien, Conor Kenny, Cillian Gallagher, James Ryan (captain), Sean O’Connor, Evan Mintern, Greg Jones, Will Connors, Max Deegan, Kelvin Brown, David Aspil, Stephen Kerins, Niall Saunders, Bill Johnston, Johnny McPhillips, Conor O’Brien, Shane Daly, Jimmy O’Brien, Paul Kiernan, Jacob Stockdale, Terry Kennedy, Hugo Keenan, Matthew Byrne.
Courtesy of World Rugby
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