Bluffer’s guide to the Junior World Cup

Posted on Jun 4, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, England U20, Ireland U20, Junior World Cup, Scottish U20, Social Pundit, Welsh U20

 

The JWC is Rugby’s premier age-grade tournament, a yearly gathering of the best U20 players in the world. The tournament works on a pool system with teams then going into a series of play-offs which ensure that every team will have five games. This year, it will run over three weeks in South Africa. The tournament has become an important part of players’ development and often throws up some of the best rugby in the calendar as highly talented players strut their stuff in a far less regimented environment than normal.

 

That, at least, is the theory. In practice, we are missing a number of the best available players this year due to either injury or moving onto higher things. A good example is England (hereafter referred to as the Baby Orcs) who are missing Matt Kvesic, Elliot Daly and George Ford – arguably the three best players in the side, and all stars of last year’s tournament. Kvesic is injured. Daly is recovering from being overplayed by Wasps due to being vital to their relegation battle, all with a knee injury that stopped him from training. Ford has been left behind to undergo an extensive conditioning course during pre-season and all the hints are that if he’d travelled, it would have been with the full squad and not the U20 squad. As Leicester motormouth said, this may be Ford’s last summer off for a long time. Nor are the English absentees the only ones. Amongst Ford’s fly-half colleagues, Heineken Cup finalist Paddy Jackson has likewise been left alone for a full pre-season – assuming Kidney doesn’t carry out his threat of taking him to New Zealand in the event of injury – while South Africa’s star fly-half Johann Goosen is missing out through injury. George North, Scotland’s Stuart Hogg, French hooker Christopher Tolofua and New Zealand’s precocious openside Sam Cane have been reserved for this purpose, while Cane’s compatriot Perenara has been left out to fulfil S15 duties. That just begins to scratch the surface. As players hit the big time younger and younger, the list of players injured and reserved for more important business seems set to grow. Indeed, some countries (Ireland in particular) have complained about the tournament’s timing, claiming it mucks up with getting proper pre-seasons for their players. Despite all this, there will still be a very high standard, and I still intend to watch as much possible.

 

Games start today with a full fixture list available here –  http://www.irb.com/jwc/fixturesresults/index.html. Group A will see champions New Zealand pitted against Wales as well as Samoa and Fiji. Group B places England, Ireland and Italy alongside hosts South Africa. Group C contains Scotland, Australia, France and Argentina. The three pool winners plus the best runner up will go into the play-offs for 1^st place.  The three pool losers plus the worst third placed team will go into the play-off for 9^th place, with 12^th place being relegated to the JWT.  All the other teams go into the highly exciting play-off for 5^th place. Right now, all of the home nations are in the JWC, although their prospects differ wildly.

 

Wales

 

Wales did poorly in the U20 Six Nations, but the squad is so different from then as to render all comparisons practically irrelevant. The Welsh might be scenting the possibility of a place in the 1^st place playoffs here as for all their physicality, bonus point wins against Samoa and Tonga are possible, which might be enough given the competitiveness of the other groups. Wales will probably need to avoid any repeat of last year’s ninety-odd point gaping at the hands of New Zealand for that to happen. That will probably require the full strength XV however, which all of a sudden compromises the possibility of victory against Samoa and Tonga. In all probability however, Wales will find themselves in the 5^th place play-off again.

 

Players to watch for

 

Forward – Dan Thomas looks like another instalment from a conveyor belt of opensides. When Wales

were getting beat up in the 6N, the Scarlets player constantly looked the goods.

 

Back – The magical Matthew Morgan. Providing he overcomes his midgetness enough to present a respectable speed bump in defence at international level, he has all the skills to be the next great Welsh running 10, and has already shown a tremendous level of assurance and skill for the Ospreys.

 

Scotland

 

Scotland had a poor Six Nations and things aren’t going to get any better now despite a backline with plenty of talent on paper. Scotland’s problems all lie up front, where their pack looks uninspiring and short of its best players, such as Gray junior. In fact, I’ll just go ahead and be a total pessimist and say I can see Scotland playing to survive in this competition, as they’re certainly finishing nowhere but bottom in their group. Well, unless Argentina are very bad I suppose.

 

Forward – Robin Hislop. Supposedly. This is totally a borrowed recommendation, as they’ve all looked pretty subpar to me, but Hislop has managed some gametime with Edinburgh this season, which isn’t bad for a young prop. Is still probably going to get beat up though.

 

Back – Mark Bennett. Injuries have curtailed Bennett’s progress recently, which is a shame as he was starting to make inroads into the Clermont team at the start of the season.

 

Ireland

 

Ireland have been consistently good at 6N level and consistently outgunned come the JWC in recent years and in truth I don’t see any other likely outcome this year. Ireland weren’t able to match England’s clinical edge in the spring and won’t stand against the Boks at home. This leaves Ireland staring squarely at the mid-place play-offs, where they’ll hope to do better than last year. It’s a shame, as this is a talented Irish team much bolstered by the return of star tighthead Tadgh Furlong

 

Forward – Iain Henderson. Repeatedly Ireland’s stand-out player in the U20 6Ns where he seemed ubiquitous and able to make ground seemingly at will, Henderson confirmed his potential with a solid outing and blistering try at Thomond Park in Ulster’s last league game of the season.

 

Back – Luke McGrath. The inability of the Irish to produce top level scrum-halves has been an ongoing issue, but to say they’re getting excited about Luke McGrath is a gross understatement. His basics may be ropey at times, but he has all the skills, and the most valuable trait of all in top level decision making.

 

England

 

The standard has been set high, and anything less than a final appearance is failure. Yet this is one of the weaker England squads to go out, and they will need to come home with silverware to be judged a success. To do so, they first need to go through the Baby Boks at home, and then in all probability New Zealand and either Australia or France. It’s a hard route, albeit one England teams have travelled before. England have traditionally been one of the strongest teams at this level due to superior fitness and athleticism, allied to a high level of technical ability. The speed is still there, but with a very young pack and a backline on the small side, it’s questionable whether they have the power to dominate collisions against the best sides. A loss to South Africa wouldn’t be the end of the world, as you’d back them to have the attacking power to be in for best runner up, but if they can’t match South Africa, then the omens don’t look good

 

Forward – Kyle Sinckler. What is it with Harlequins and tight five forwards at the moment? Despite being a year young, Sinckler carried like the extra-large size version of Steffon Armitage that he resembles, and his scrummaging seemed to show technique as well as power, although I’m not the best judge. Nevertheless, likely to be England’s battering ram of choice

 

Back – Marland Yarde. This could have been any of a half-dozen players, but I eventually went with the London Irish flier. Yarde has some serious pace, is probably the most powerful of England’s likely starting backline and has shown a fair rugby brain so far for England. Although with Addison, Elliot and Walker, he mightn’t even start!

 

Five others to look out for

 

1: Liam Gill, Australia – Statistically the best poacher in the Super 15 at present. Yes, there are some questions about the stats and what they consider turnovers, but statistically he’s currently better than Pocock, McCaw, Brussow and a number of others.

 

2: Steven Kitshoff, South Africa – Kitshoff has been playing week-in, week-out for the Stormers, to the point that their coach has been complaining loudly about his inclusion in the U20s. Enormous and ginger, the loosehead prop will be easy to keep an eye out for.

 

3. Sebastien Taofifenua, France – Speaking of massive and easy to spot, Taofifenua is the biggest man at the tournament, and will be playing tighthead prop in between bouts of baby eating.

 

4. Gael Fickou, France – Continuing the Gallic theme, I don’t know much about Fickou save that he’s already playing for Toulon at the age of 18. I’m taking that as a fairly heavy hint that he’s got something about him.

 

5. Scott Eade, New Zealand – It’s a fairly low key selection for the Baby Blacks, but fly-half Eade’s racked up some ITM cup time for Southland and frankly, when isn’t it worth keeping an eye out for a NZ fly-half anyway? Eade should have the armchair ride of his life at this tournament.

 

England Under 18 beat Wales for final place

Posted on Apr 4, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, England U18

England Under 18 secured their spot in the 2012 FIRA tournament final against Ireland after beating Wales 22-16 in Madrid.

Head Coach John Fletcher said that the forwards “provided the platform” for the three-try win as Javiah Pohe, Ross Moriarty and Scott Wilson all got over the whitewash, Billy Burns added seven points with the boot.

After a fractious start in wet conditions, Wales got the first points on the board through fly half Jack Maynard before England’s No. 10 Burns levelled up two minutes later.

With 20 on the clock centre Pohe got England’s first try – patient build up from the forwards eventually freed up the 17-year-old Leicester youngster, who showed a nice step before darting over the line.

England’s second came five minutes later, a short line-out inside the Welsh 22 was well caught by Maro Itoje and the resulting rolling maul was touched down over the line by Moriarty to make the score 17-3.

Maynard reduced the deficit to 11 with his second penalty to draw the first half to a close with England 17-6 to the good.

Wales started the second half strongly and scored with 43 played through flanker and captain Ben Roach and Maynard’s successful kick put Wales to within a try of the lead.

England could have extended their advantage when wing Josh Watkins made a nice break and found scrum half Callum Braley in space, but the Hartpury No. 9 was closed down quickly and his pass out wide to Zach Kibirige was knocked into touch.

Fortunately England’s third try did come soon after, another short line-out was well gathered and prop Wilson forced the ball over the line to put England 22-13 up with 15 minutes left.

A Welsh penalty, again from Maynard, with five minutes to go brought them to within a converted try of the lead, but England’s solid defence held firm to ensure their place in the final.

Fletcher was proud of his side after the game and said: “We’re delighted with the effort and delighted with the result but we’ve still got some work to do. The game could have gone either way to be honest, they had a lot of the ball and they had opportunities to hurt us.

“It was a fairly even game but we’ll move on from this and look to better ourselves in the final. Our forwards were excellent, our set-piece was very good and it provided the platform for the win.”

Try scorer Moriarty added: "I’m really happy to get the win both from a personal point of view and for the team. We worked really hard today, it might not have been the prettiest but we got the job done. I spoke to my dad [Paul Moriarty, former Wales player] after the match and he was chuffed – we just can’t wait for the final now."

England Under 18 starting XV

15 Zach Kibirige (Yarm School) (Newcastle Falcons)

14 Josh Watkins (Bromsgrove School) (Worcester Warriors)

13 Tom Stephenson (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)

12 Javiah Pohe (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth 1st) (Leicester Tigers)

11 Nathan Earle (Oaklands) (Saracens)

10 Billy Burns (Hartpury College) (Gloucester Rugby)

9 Callum Braley (Hartpury College) (Bristol Rugby)

1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)

2 Harry Thacker (Leicester Grammar) (Leicester Tigers)

3 Scott Wilson (Sedbergh School) (Newcastle Falcons)

4 Maro Itoje (Harrow School) (Saracens)

5 Charlie Ewels (Bryanston School) (Bath Rugby)

6 Ross Moriarty (Hartpury College) (Gloucester Rugby)

7 Gus Jones (c) (Eton College) (London Wasps)

8 Josh Buggea (Hartpury College) (Worcester Warriors)

Replacements

16 Reece Marshall (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)

17 Harry Rudkin (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth 1st) (Leicester Tigers) on for Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi

18 Alex Lundberg (Hampton) (London Wasps)

19 Jake Oldaker (Wellington College) (Bath Rugby) on for Maro Itoje

20 Joel Conlon (Ivybridge Community College) (Exeter Chiefs) on for Josh Buggea

21 Tom Chapman (Colfe’s School) (Saracens)

22 Sam Olver (Oundle School) (Northampton Saints) on for Billy Burns

23 George Catchpole (Leicester Grammar) (Leicester Tigers)

24 Nick Carpenter (Filton College) (Bristol Rugby)

25 Max Northcote-Green (Millfield) (Bath Rugby)

26 Howard Packman (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)

Ireland Under-20 Team to Play Scotland Under-20

Posted on Mar 6, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, Ireland, Irish Rugby

The Ireland Under 20 team has been named for their penultimate fixture of the RBS Under 20s Six Nations Championship, where they take on their Scottish counterparts in Dubarry Park.

The Irish side face into this fixture on the back of three wins from three in the tournament so far.

Coach Mike Ruddock made a number of changes to his side that played against Italy a fortnight ago.

Sam Coughlan-Murray returns to the setup having recovered from an ankle injury with Luke McGrath promoted from the bench to take the scrumhalf spot.

A reworked pack sees James Rael join Peter Reilly and Kyle McCall in the front row. Iain Henderson moves from five to four and will partner Danny Qualter in the second row.

Conor Gilsenan moves across the back row with Aaron Conneely coming in to join Jack Conan.

Tadhg Bernie, Jordan Coghlan and Kieron Marmion are named in the replacements along with Callum O’Connell who comes into the 22 for the first time.

Speaking of his selection and of the task at hand, Ruddock said "We have reinstated a few of the lads that were involved in the win against France, we felt that they deserved to come back into the equation for this test.”

“We certainly don’t underestimate the Scottish side, I have looked at their tapes and realise that our defense are going to have to work very hard to stop them crossing the line.”

“We have prepared to the best of our ability and are ready to front up to a very talented Scotland team.”

Friday’s game will be broadcast live from Dubarry Park on RTE Two.

Ireland U-20 v Scotland U-20 (Dubarry Park, Athlone – Friday 9th March 2012, Kick-off 7.05pm)
15 – Shane Layden (Buccaneers – Connacht)
14 – Conor Finn (Buccaneers – Connacht)
13 – Chris Farrell (Dungannon – Ulster)
12 – JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians – Munster)
11. Sam Coughlan Murray (UCD – Leinster) 
10 – Paddy Jackson (Dungannon – Ulster)(Capt)
9 – Luke McGrath (UCD – Leinster)
1 -Kyle McCall (QUB – Ulster)
2 – James Rael (Garryowen – Munster)
3 – Peter Reilly (Lansdowne – Leinster)
4- Iain Henderson (Queens – Ulster) 
5 – Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers – Connacht)
6 – Conor Gilsenan (UCD – Leinster)
7 – Aaron Conneely (Corinthians – Connacht)
8 – Jack Conan (Old Belvedere – Leinster)

Replacements
16. Callum O’Connell (Galwegians – Connacht) 
17. Des Merrey (Clontarf – Leinster)
18 – Jake Cawley (Old Belvedere – Leinster)
19. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne – Leinster)
20. Jordan Coghlan (UCD – Leinster) 
21. Kieron Marmion (Corinthians – Connacht)
22 – Cathal Marsh (Dublin University – Leinster)
23 – Stuart Olding (Belfast Harlequins – Ulster)

Ireland Under-20 RBS 6 Nations Fixtures 2012 (All Kick-off Times GMT): 
Fri 9th Mar 19:05 Ireland U20 v Scotland U20 Dubarry Park
Fri 16th Mar 20:05 England U20 v Ireland U20 Adams Park

RWC 2012 inspires enthusiasm for the game amongst young

Posted on Mar 6, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, NZ, Rugby News, SANZAR

Schools and rugby clubs throughout New Zealand are reporting increased interest in playing rugby in 2012 with the success of Rugby World Cup 2011 cited as a factor in stimulating renewed enthusiasm for the NZ national game.

Initial feedback from Provincial Unions currently inviting player registrations suggests player numbers are set for a strong year.

Counties Manukau Rugby Chief Executive Andrew Maddock said many clubs and schools in the region were already reporting significant interest from volunteers and players at all levels.

“Clubs and schools are registering very strong numbers and many schools and clubs are expected to field a number of additional teams this year.

“Throughout our region there is a huge level of excitement in rugby and it’s great to see it flow onto increased participation. Undoubtedly the enthusiasm we saw for RWC 2011 matches, no matter who was playing and the All Blacks win are big reasons,” Maddock said.

The annual window for player registrations traditionally runs from February to April. Last year 145,689 players signed up to play rugby. Over the past five years player numbers increased three per cent.

Sonny Bill Williams new Teen Rugby Ambassador

New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) General Manager Community and Provincial Union Rugby Brent Anderson said they were focused on supporting Provincial Unions to retain players in 2012, and to grow participation at all levels, particularly among teenagers.

“Encouraging teenagers to stay in the game is one of our key challenges this year.  That’s why it’s great having Sonny Bill Williams on board as our Teen Rugby Ambassador.”

Teenagers will soon receive a text from Sonny Bill Williams reminding them to register. Other initiatives include Random Rugby Facebook and competitions with prizes including Barkers outfitting and adidas clothing.

“We’re busy with lots of other activities as well such as The Great Rugby Road Trip. All these initiatives coupled with a fantastic start to the Investec Super Rugby season gives us confidence that rugby will remain the sport of choice for New Zealanders,” Anderson said.

Small Blacks TV back on air

For young rugby fans, Small Blacks TV, a finalist for the Aotearoa Film & Television Awards best kids’ TV programme, returns to TV2 this Sunday (11 March at 7.30am) for another bigger, brighter and better season.  Regular Small Blacks TV stars Richard Kahui, Conrad Smith and Dan Carter are back and they’re joined this year by Israel Dagg who will present a new segment call Kura Commentary.

Hosted by Nua Finau the half hour children’s lifestyle show features All Blacks like they’ve never been seen before.

Kahui challenges kids to a race through an obstacle course every week in Kaks vs Kids, Conrad “Snakey” Smith is a reporter on the spot on Small Blacks News presented by New Zealand actor Robbie Magasiva, and Carter teaches rugby skills in DC Skills.

Young players who have previously registered to play rugby can also look forward to receiving a postcard and text message from Richie McCaw.

Kahui and Williams were also at Manurewa High School this afternoon playing Rippa Rugby and encouraging young people to register.

Registrations close in March and April.  To find out more, those interested in playing rugby or volunteering should contact their school, Provincial Union or local club at http://allblacks.com/clubfinder.

England Women’s U20s named to take on France

Posted on Mar 2, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, England Women, English Rugby, Women's Rugby

The England Women’s Under 20s team to take on France in their first international of the season on March 11th at the Suzan Lenglen Stadium in Paris has been announced, kick off 930am GMT.

The England Under 20s side will be led by the experienced Richmond scrum-half Fiona Davidson who will start her third year in the U20s squad. Lichfield flanker Fiona Fletcher has been named as vice-captain.

Davidson will lead an U20s side which sees 12 players in the 22 set to make their England U20s bow. Four players; Rachael Jones, Amy Needham, Carys Williams and Megan Goddard have been called up to the squad after impressing in the RFUW Divisional Programme after initially missing out on selection into the 2011/2012 Under 20s squad.

Amanda Bennett, who is joined by assistant coach Steve Halsey again this season, said:  “It is so exciting to see such talent in young players. Although this is a relatively inexperienced squad, we will look to the likes of new players Lauren Cattell and Rachel Jones for big performances just as much as Captain Fiona Davidson, who brings vast experience. Nurturing young talent is rewarding, and this year’s squad has the potential to play some great rugby.

“We have had a relative luxury of a series of training camps which have allowed the squad to grow together and also for us to work hard on team development, game strategy and of course, continuing to build on the core skills.”

England will also take on France on April 4th and 7th at Moulton College as well as host the USA in a two test series in July at the same venue, and they’ll be looking to build on the success of last season which saw England defeat Canada, the USA, France, Wales, Scotland and South Africa, completing a clean sweep of international victories.

Bennett added: “There aren’t many teams who would choose to play three tests against France in a season as they are such a tough side. However, these games present an opportunity for the England squad to learn from one game to the next and benchmark improvements in performances against high quality opposition. We will be looking for pre-determined goals to be met by the third game and for individual players, as well as the whole squad, to improve in designated areas.

“We have played France twice in the last two years and are all square when it comes to results. We lost in 2010 but genuinely feel our preparations this year are more comprehensive and players have an excellent understanding of what is expected of them, regardless of the environment.”

England Women U20s

(Name, Club, County, Division, Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence College)

15        Georgia          Peedle           (Saracens, Hertfordshire, London & South East)

14        Rachel           Jones(Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands)

13        Hannah         Edwards        (Wasps, Middlesex,London & South East)      

12        Louise            Dennis           (Worcester, Gloucestershire, South West)

11        Rebecca        Hughes (Bristol, Somerset,            South West)

10        Lauren Cattell (Chesham, Buckinghamshire, South West, Moulton College)

9          Fiona  Davidson       (Richmond, Surrey,             London & South East) Captain   

1          Mica    Evans(Saracens, Hertfordshire, London & South East)        

2          Emily  Hatherall        (Worcester, Gloucestershire, South West)        

3          Catherine      Pugh  (Rochford Hundred,            Essex, London & South East)     

4          Ellen   Gattlin            (Saracens, Essex, London & South East)        

5          Abbie  Scott   (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks,           Northumberland, North)  

6          Fiona  Fletcher (Lichfield, Staffordshire,             Midlands) Vice-Captain    

7          Megan            Oaten(Bristol, Gloucestershire, South West)   

8          Katie   Turnbull (Thornbury, Gloucestershire, South West, Hartpury College)

Replacements:       

16        Charlotte        Notman          (Penryn, Cornwall, South West) 

17        Amy    Needham (Paviors, Notts, Lincs & Derbys, Midlands, Moulton College)

18        Courtney       Gill      (Plymouth Albion, Devon, South West, Hartpury College)

19        Carys  Williams         (Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands, Moulton College)

20        Bianca Blackburn (Gloucester, Gloucestershire, South West, Hartpury College)

21        Megan Goddard (Hartpury, Gloucestershire, South West, Hartpury College)

22        Sian    McGuinness(Tyldesley, Lancashire, North)

England Under 20s 2011/2012 Fixtures:

March 11th, France U20s v England U20s, Suzan Lenglen Stadium, Paris, KO 930am GMT

April 4th, England U20s v France U20s, Moulton College, KO 230pm

April 7th,  England U20s v France U20s, Moulton College, KO 1pm

July, Dates TBC, England U20s will play the USA in two test matches, Moulton College

Fit again Henry Slade ready for Azzurri

Posted on Mar 2, 2012 in Age Grade Rugby, England U20

England Under 20 fly half Henry Slade – he went to school with Olympic diver Tom Daley.

The 18-year-old Exeter Chiefs No. 10 has fought his way back into contention with Rob Hunter’s Under 20 side and has been given his first start of this season’s Six Nations campaign in Italy tomorrow (Saturday).

Slade has missed over five months of the current season, first injuring his back before his medial collateral ligament.

But he is back to full fitness and said:

“It’s always nice to get the start. I’ve been working towards it for quite some time now. Getting injured was a blow but I was pretty focussed on returning for the Six Nations and fortunately with the help of the physios and the conditioning guys I’ve been able to – it’s a good feeling.

“It was a long road to recovery, but you have to make what you can of the situation so I spent a bit of time trying to build up my size and strength, as well as analysing games in more detail to try and get a better understanding. You could say it’s been a bit of a blessing in disguise.”

Slade came off the bench for Tommy Bell in England’s 40-9 triumph over Wales last weekend, and added:

“It was great to get a run out at The Stoop, the atmosphere was really good and it was just nice to put all that training and preparation into practice. We’re missing a few guys who are at their Premiership clubs, but the way we performed against the Welsh goes to show that there’s a real strength in depth with this squad,” reflected Slade.

England are back in Italy for the second time within a month after their scheduled Six Nations game on February 10 was called off due to a frozen pitch, but Slade is hoping that the frustration of not being able to play last time can be utilised.

“It was disappointing not to get a game last time we were out here, but you have to respect the decision and move on. The benefit is that we now know the area, the hotel and the ground, so we’re actually a little bit more acclimatised,” reflected Slade.

“The Italians are a very proud nations and extremely passionate, particularly at home, so we know that it’s going to be a big challenge, but I think we’re up to it.”