SUD AFRICA – The first day of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship ends without too many surprises. Goals, speed, entertainment and many interesting young people to set our sights on. The first six games do not show any major surprises, at least from the point of view of the results.
However, if the predictions were respected in terms of results, as often happens, in terms of collective and individual performances, there was no shortage of pleasant surprises.
In the Girone A the reigning champions France and the All Blacks win and convince. However, despite the tough defeat, the young Spanish team, making their debut in the competition, has shown that they deserve the competition. Lots of grit, speed and desire to show themselves for the Iberian boys, fresh from winning the cadet World Cup last year. Although the score (49-12) makes it clear that it was a one-sided match, the feeling is that the Spanish will not be extras in the competition.
A victory that was far from certain for New Zealand, against a Wales team that managed to earn two defensive bonus points. The game seemed over in the first minutes of the second half, with the All Blacks leading 36-13, when the Dragons came back forcefully behind in the score: the game ended with an honorable defeat by 34-41. Who knows, maybe Wales will turn out to be the surprise of the tournament, as well as a loose cannon in the group.
In the Girone B, the one where Italy competes, Ireland and Australia clearly win, against the Azzurri and against Georgia respectively. As for our boys, after a convincing start, the Irish took control of the game, closing the match at the end of the first half. The score 55-15leaves no room for comment and reflects what was seen on the pitch.
These are the words of Santamarianew coach of the Italian U20 national team: “We knew that cynicism would be among their most important skills given that in the Six Nations they were deadly effective in that area of the game. Frankly a bonus point was within our reach. There were opportunities to score in the second half, but we made too many mistakes. We will study what happened very carefully, now head to Australia, another match that is certainly very difficult, as a World Cup in general is.”
There is also a lot of bitterness in the captain’s words Jacopo Botturi: “We expected a more physical match, but instead they based it a lot on speed, forcing us into a very forced defense. They had 80% of the possession and the little we had we often wasted with mistakes that we had to avoid, we lost the game there.”
a match of interest for our Azzurrini was certainly the one between Australia and Georgia, the next opponents in the group. The Caucasians are coming from a surprising victory against England in a friendly (45-17), while the young wallabies want to convince and prove to be the lifeblood of the future of the senior national team.
After a very balanced start, with two tries disallowed for Australia, the first half sees Georgia ahead. in the second half, however, all the qualities of three quarters of the wallabies emerge, authors of four splendid goals, which set the score at 35-11. It will be a really tough group for Italy.
Finally, in Group Chosts South Africa outclass them Fiji. A devastating scrum and three electric quarters resulted in a 28-0 run and four tries in the first half. The heart of Fiji was rewarded with just one try at the start of the second half.
A real catwalk for the hosts, decidedly favorites for the final victory.
Englandwith some initial difficulty, manages to get the better of a tough Argentina, very close to the defensive bonus point. The English leave with many expectations, after the humiliation of the defeat against Georgia. The start, in fact, is not the best: at half an hour i Pick up they are ahead 14-0. Despite this, at the beginning of the second half, the British completed the partial comeback, taking the lead 14-26. The response from the Pumitas was not long in coming and they made up for it with a solid lead: 21-26.
The last minutes are all in favor of the national team of the Rose which shows all its best qualities. A very entertaining and open match ends 21-40 to England.
Appointment on Thursday 4 July, when Italy will try to redeem itself against the listed Australia. The big matches will be France-New Zealand e Sud Africa-Argentina.
Girone A
Results:
France-Spain 49-12
New Zealand-Wales 41-34
Classification:
1) France 5
2) New Zealand 5
3) Wales 2
4) Spain 0
Girone B
Results:
Ireland-Italy 55-15
Australia-Georgia 35-11
Classification:
1) Ireland 5
2) Australia 5
3) Georgia 0
4) Italia 0
Group C
Results:
South Africa-Fiji 57-7
England-Argentina 40-21
Classification:
1) South Africa 5
2) England 5
3) Argentina 0
4) Fiji 0
