Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Scotland and USA through to U20 Trophy final

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JULY 12: Scotland's Finlay Doyle scores a second half try during a World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 match between Scotland and Japan at Hive Stadium, on July 12, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

Scotland will go into Wednesday’s World Rugby U20 Trophy final as massive favourites after an emphatic 46-10 victory over previously unbeaten Japan secured them top spot in Pool A at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.

ADVERTISEMENT

On the eve of the senior men’s team’s match-up in Washington DC this weekend, Scotland booked a date with Pool B winners USA, who laboured to a 30-17 victory against Kenya earlier in the day.

The winner of the final will win promotion and compete in next year’s World Rugby U20 Championship.

Scotland were relegated from age grade international rugby’s elite event in 2019 and failed to bounce back at the first attempt last year after suffering a costly defeat to Uruguay.

However, this time around Kenny Murray’s team have been flawless in going about their business, establishing a competition record in beating Samoa 123-15 in round one and chalking up another century in their next match against Hong Kong China, 101-0.

Japan were always going to provide a stiffer challenge but Scotland were more than a match for the Asian outfit, scoring six tries.

Two tries were conceded by Scotland as Japan finally found their groove in the final quarter but the tournament hosts were worthy winners.

ADVERTISEMENT

A double from Geordie Glynn set them on their way and they had 39 unanswered points on the board with 65 minutes gone, scoring further tries through Finlay Doyle – his seventh of the tournament – and Andrew McLean and Freddie Douglas in addition to a couple of penalties.

Japan responded with two tries in five minutes from Tasuku Masuyama and Shusui Kamei but Scotland had the final word when Jack Hocking rounded things off.

USA, meanwhile, spurned several opportunities on their way to victory over Kenya, which gives them a shot at competing in the U20 Championship for the first time since 2013.

A misfiring lineout stymied their efforts in the first half and 11 points were missed from the kicking tee as they went into the break only 8-3 to the good.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Junior All-Americans upped the ante, however, in the third quarter and the decision to hand the goal-kicking duties to the assured left boot of centre, Tito Edjua was a masterstroke.

The centre badly skewed his first attempt but came good thereafter as USA pulled away by scoring three tries in a 16-minute burst.

Kenya staged a late rally but it was too little too late.

As runners-up of their respective pools, Japan will play Uruguay, 32-16 winners against tournament newcomers the Netherlands, for the bronze medal.

Samoa beat Hong Kong China 39-19 in the first match of the day and they will face the Dutch in the fifth-place final.

The destiny of the wooden spoon will be decided by Hong Kong China and Kenya.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

287 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Key Wallabies trio running hot a year after being left in cold Key Wallabies trio running hot a year after being left in cold
Search