Australia ready to push for first U20 Championship crown
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Loading...Only three nations have lifted the distinctive World Rugby U20 Championship trophy since the tournament began in 2008 in New Zealand, South Africa and two-time defending champions England.
That trio will again be among the nations mentioned as potential champions when the 2015 edition kicks off in Italy on Tuesday, but Australia captain Andrew Kellaway believes his team have the best chance yet to get their hands on the trophy.
Australia have reached the final once before, back in 2010 when they were overwhelmed 62-17 by a rampant New Zealand side which included Julian Savea in its ranks, but have failed to make the semi-finals since 2011.
Kellaway, though, believes the introduction of the Oceania Rugby Junior Championship last month for Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Japan means his side are much further along in their preparation than previous years.
“The Oceania event was hugely important,” admitted Kellaway, who scored a record 10 tries in the 2014 edition of the U20 Championship as Australia finished fifth.
“To be able to play those high calibre and high intensity games leading into the World Cup is something that is priceless really for our preparation and a step in the right direction for competing with the northern hemisphere sides. We have had our time to get rid of cobwebs and get our systems in place and I think now is the time to get going.
BEHIND THE EIGHT-BALL
“That is definitely one of the components we have been missing, our preparation has always been a bit hindered by Super Rugby and all the things going on there, but fingers crossed things go our way this year.”
That is a sentiment echoed by Kellaway’s opposite number on Tuesday, Samoa captain Joshua Dowsing who was buoyant about his side’s chances in the U20 Championship.
“That was the first year of the Oceania tournament and it was amazing, the Gold Coast was really good to us and then we were very lucky that once we got back we went straight into camp in Auckland so the team has been together now for about a month,” Dowsing explained.
“We are getting to know each other really well, we’ve been living together, breathing together, doing everything together so we are all really good mates and hopefully that correlates into good rugby, good combinations and everyone understanding what we want to do.”
Australia ran out 33-10 winners over Samoa when the sides met in the Oceania Championship, but despite the margin of defeat Dowsing believes he and his teammates can take confidence from that because “we didn’t think we were too far behind the eight-ball when we played them”.
TEST MATCH INTENSITY
The other Pool B match on day one sees the host nation take on 2014 runners-up South Africa at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano. Italy have not yet scored a try in two previous meetings with the Junior Springboks and captain Pablo Buonfiglio knows the size of the task awaiting them.
“The first game is against South Africa, one of the best teams in the world and they are coming here with the intention to win the World Cup, so they will try to score a lot of points but we have to defend well and also attack and try to find confidence in ourselves,” he said.
South Africa coach Dawie Theron knows only too well the challenges that an U20 Championship brings given 2015 is his fifth year, admitting that “every game is going to be like a test match and that is how we prepare for it.” But that said, Theron believes the squad has the right make-up to secure a second U20 Championship title for South Africa.
“I think the team is in a very good space at the moment, we have a very well balanced side,” he said. “It is always difficult with this type of tournament where usually stars are at this tournament. There are high expectations for a lot of these players and they now have the opportunity to put their hand up and show what they can do.”
In Pool A, defending champions England open their quest for a third successive title against Japan, who return to the U20 Championship for the first time since 2009 after winning the second tier U20 Trophy competition last year.
“To be honest as a country we are defending champions but as a squad we are nothing, we are just this year’s under-20 squad,” insisted England captain Charlie Ewels, one of five players who started the 2014 final who will begin the match against Japan in Calvisano at 18:30 local time.
SHOWCASING JAPANESE RUGBY
“Every team comes here to try and win the competition but I don’t think of it like that, I think of this as a completely separate team to the one that won last year and I was fortunate enough to be a part of.”
“It is so important for us to be in the Championship again and we have to keep this place, but we are more focusing on the positive challenge and are not under any pressure,” he said.
“We have prepared a lot of things. We are not big but we have a plan for the scrummage and counter-attack, that is very Japanese rugby and we would like to show the Japanese style.”
While England may not be too familiar with their opponents, the same cannot be said for France and Wales who have met three times in the last 12 months, Les Bleues winning the most recent encounter 27-5 at home during the Six Nations.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
For Wales captain Rory Thornton, who earlier on Monday was named in Wales’ training squad for Rugby World Cup 2015, he hopes this meeting on neutral soil can be the catalyst for the young Dragons to reach a second U20 Championship final in three years.
“It is a bit more of an equal playing ground this time, being in Italy and both away from home.
“We know what they are about, what they are going to bring and I think we have just got to go out there and enjoy the game, put in a good performance. We know what we can do, we know what they can do and hopefully on the day we can come away with the result.
“It would be awesome to get to the semi-finals, but we have a tough group with France and England, who are the current champions, and Japan. That will be a new challenge for us as we have never experienced playing them.
“Hopefully if we can get a good performance against France, maybe get the win then that can roll on and get some consistency in our performances to move on.”
REGAINING THE TITLE
New Zealand are the most successful team in the U20 Championship, but the last of their four titles came in 2011, ironically the last time the tournament was held in Italy. That is something that captain Atu Moli is hoping to put right over the coming weeks.
“It would really mean a lot to win it again,” admitted Moli ahead of New Zealand’s opening Pool C match with Scotland – a team they beat 54-7 in the pool stages last year.
“I guess there has been that gap and everyone has been talking about it but the boys are focused on this year and really looking to get their hands back on that trophy.
“The vibe and the culture that we have looks good for this competition and the boys are just excited to get out there. We have worked so hard to get here and we can’t wait to get started.”
Ireland reached the semi-finals for the first time in 2014, but will come into the tournament on the back of a fifth place finish in the Six Nations and have suffered the blow of losing starting fly-half Ross Byrne late in their preparations.
They will, though, have Garry Ringrose who was nominated for the Junior Player of the Year accolade in 2014 and will be a key figure in Ireland’s hopes to start well against Argentina to show that the semi-final appearance was not a one-off result.
Courtesy of World Rugby
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