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Records tumble as Scotland and Japan win big on day one of U20 Trophy
By Jon Newcombe
The opening day of the World Rugby U20 Trophy produced the two highest scores in the history of the competition, with hosts Scotland and Pool A rivals Japan running amok against Samoa and Hong Kong China.
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Japan began the day at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh with a 105-20 win against Hong Kong China in the U20 Trophy’s first all-Asian tie. It was the most points scored in an U20 Trophy match, narrowly eclipsing the 104-7 win for Namibia against Cayman Islands in 2009.
Right winger Kento Iioka ran in four tries for the three-time winners, whilst hooker Kenshin Shimizu also scored a hat-trick in the try-fest.
However, the new record only stood for a few hours as Scotland clinically put Samoa to the sword in the third game of the day, bettering Japan’s try count by three in crossing the Islanders’ line on no less than 20 occasions in a huge 123-15 victory.
Winger Finlay Doyle and full-back Fergus Watson scored a hat-trick of tries apiece in a ruthless display of finishing from the Scots.
Scotland led 66-3 at half-time and didn’t let up, almost doubling their points tally after the break on their way to achieving the biggest margin of victory since the U20 Trophy began in 2008.
Having missed out on promotion back to the U20 Championship in 2023, Scotland are determined to right the wrongs at their home tournament and on this form they will take some stopping.
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However, they will have to get past Japan first and there should be fireworks when the sides meet in the final round of the pool stage on Friday, July 12th.
In Pool B, 2023 beaten finalists Uruguay were far less convincing in their 25-7 win against Kenya.
Inside-centre Alfonso Perillo was Los Teritos’ standout performer and looks a future international-in-the-making with his strong ball carrying and strength in contact.
Perillo scored on the stroke of half-time as Uruguay led 15-0 but they didn’t kick on as expected and Kenya pulled seven points back before replacement front-rowers, Santiago Cagnone and Francisco Garcia, crashed over in the final 15 minutes.
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The Netherlands’ debut match in the U20 Trophy ended in defeat but they can take pride in scoring five tries in another high-scoring encounter that ended 44-33 to the USA.
Openside Joris Smits scored a hat-trick for the Dutch but Keelan Farrell went one better for the Junior All-Americans who threatened to run away with it having gone into the break with a 41-12 lead.
However, come the final whistle, USA knew they’d been in a game as the Netherlands produced a brilliant second-half fightback.
After all that, the second round of the U20 Trophy on Sunday July 7th can’t come quick enough, and you can watch all the action live and exclusive on RugbyPass TV.
