Canada U20 vs USA U20 – 2024

Canada Lose Game Two 41-21 and Series 74-39

It was a similar scenario to Game #1, Canada dominated the scrums, the USA had the advantage everywhere else. Without Canada’s dominance in the set piece the score would have been a lot worse, Canada’s first two tries were penalty tries courtesy of the set piece. The 3rd Canada try was a kick to the corner from Matt Bennett to wing Spencer Cotie.

The USA went up 17-0 before Canada’s first penalty try at 27 minutes, the Americans added another try before Canada’s second penalty try in extra time in the first half. The half ended 24-14 for USA.

Canada made it close about 50 minutes into the match with their 3rd try making it a 3 point game, 24-21, before the USA added two tries to close out the match.

As in game #1 the front row come in for commendation, tighthead prop Brighton Feldman had a strong showing, in the backs it was Morgan di Nardo who showed some spark and created some line breaks.

The USA travel to Scotland to represent North America at the Junior World Rugby Trophy tournament.

The full match replay is now up on https://rugbypass.tv/video/647177

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Canada Make Four Changes to Starting Roster; Five in Reserves for Second Match

Canada have made four changes to the starting roster, Thorson Noble replaces Justin Tasse at loosehead prop, Tasse goes to the reserves. Morgan di Nardo gets moved from the wing to outside centre and Thomas Wells Richards comes off the bench to start on the wing. Marco Mitchell comes off the bench to start at inside centre. In the reserves Riku Konrad gets into the match 23 as backup hooker, Eric Vann, Austin Allen, Liam Turnbull also come into the roster on the bench.

Rugby Canada have stated that the match will be streamed on World Rugby’s rugbypass.tv which, hopefully, should be a huge improvement from the Game 1 stream. Kick off is 7pm PT at Starlight Stadium in Langford.

Canada (match #1 /  match #2)

1 Justin Tasse / Thorson Noble
2 Jeffrey Young
3 Brighton Feldman
4 Ryan Cozens
5 Daragh Doyle
6 Grant Meadows
7 Garin Schroeder
8 Olly Wiseman
9 Patrick Kirwan
10 Matthew Bennett
11 Morgan di Nardo / Thomas Wells Richards
12 Jimmy Leach / Marco Mitchell
13 Lockhart MacGregor / Morgan di Nardo
14 Spencer Cotie
15 Ben Greenstein
16 Noah Kynaston / Riku Konrad
17 Dylan Shaw / Justin Tasse
18 Charles Trollip
19 Liam Kinghorn / Eric Vann
20 Jaxson Jones / Austin Allen
21 Marco Mitchell / Liam Kinghorn
22 Thomas Wells Richards / Liam Turnbull
23 Caleb Seumanutafu

from Rugby Canada

from USA Rugby

Seven new names join the match roster following Saturday’s first round win, with position changes to complete the official 23. Thomas Wagner, Maseah Young, Benjamin Saunders, Jordan Vassel, Luke Schaefer, Solomon Williams will see first action in Langford and Padraic Casey will slot in at scrumhalf. The squad will relocate to Starlight Stadium in Langford for the second match, kicking off Thursday, June 6 at 10PM ET on Rugby Canada YouTube.

The USA rode an electric second half during the first fixture of the two-game series to earn a 33-18 win and set themselves up for qualification on Thursday. In the days since, the squad has trained at Startlight Stadium.

USA Co-Captain and Eagle #568, Dominic Besag said on the time in between, “This week we’ve focused on discipline and connection, we’re looking to really have those as our focus points on defense. Attack wise, we’re looking to just be simple and execute the simple things. Elvis has a great attack plan for us, we just want to get those things right before we move forward on anything more complex. Overall, as a team, the ideology this week is to finish the job.”

Besag spent the 2023 August international tour with the Men’s National Team, earning his first cap against Georgia in Tbilisi. When asked about what he’s brought from that experience to the U20s, “I would say most of it is leadership. I learned a lot from Greg (Peterson), Tavite (Lopeti), Nate (Augspurger). I learned a lot from those guys about how to effectively communicate with people on the team that you need to get behind, because it’s really a group effort. It’s a cliché thing to say, but especially in rugby, you have to be a cohesive group. I think these last few weeks we’ve done a great job bringing the group together.”

NAME	SCHOOL/CLUB
1. Thomas Wagner	Randwick
2. Seth Smith	Houston SaberCats
3. Asbjorn Lau Ross	UCLA
4. Maseah Young	St Bonaventure
5. Miles Malone	Univ. of California – Berkeley
6. George Engels	Army West Point
7. Holden Hahn	Kentucky Univ.
8. Logan Ballinger	Life Univ.
9. Pádraic Casey	Cal Poly
10. Benjamin Saunders	Grand Canyon Univ.
11. Keelan Farrell	Esher Rugby Club
12. Max Threlkeld	Univ. of California – Berkeley
13. Dominic Besag (C)	St Mary’s College
14. Jordan Vassel	Life Univ.
15. Rand Santos	Univ. of California – Berkeley
16. Caden Crist	Univ. of California – Berkeley
17. Luke Schaefer	Lindenwood Univ.
18. Tevita Kutu	Anthem RC
19. Brice Muller	Babson College
20. Dylan Fortune	Anthem RC
21. Solomon Williams	Univ. of California – Berkeley
22. Oliver Cline	Central Washington
23. Tito Edjua	Brown University

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USA Come From Behind for 33-18 Win Over Canada in U20 Series

All was going well for Canada with 25 minutes left, they were leading 18-7, then USA scored at a rate of a point a minute to finish the game as 33-18 winners.

The scrum gave Canada an early advantage, winning key penalties against the visitors. The starting props for Canada, Brighton Feldman and Justin Tasse, are both with the Westshore club, Brighton coming through their U18 program and now at UVic, Justin moving from Alberta to play with the Westshore Premier team.

A combination of the impact subs from the USA coming on and errors creeping into the Canada game turned the game around in the last quarter. The USA took the lead with 15 minutes to play and then added two more tries to pad the margin of victory.

Canada now have to make up a 15 point deficit on Thursday. Last year, in South Carolina, the USA won the first match by +22 before adding a +25 win.

Canada will need to cut down the errors, maintain their early scrum superiority and find a way to get attack players like Morgan di Nardo more involved in the match if they are to win game #2. Kick off is at 7pm, Thursday at Starlight Stadium.

 

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Rosters Announced for Saturday’s Canada U20 vs USA U20 Match

Both Rugby Canada and USA Rugby announced their rosters for Saturday’s clash at Shawnigan Lake. The match is set to kick off at 3pm PT with the live stream on the Rugby Canada YouTube channel.

This matchup is interesting at several levels, it may be a precursor of where the men’s XVs programs are heading in both countries. USA won decisively last year when they hosted but Canada have never failed to qualify for the JWRT (Junior World Rugby Trophy) when they are hosting the series. Canada won in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 before COVID cancelled 2020, 2021, 2022.

This is also a matchup of Scott Lawrence, the GM of the USA men’s XVs program and Stephen Aboud, the Director of High Performance for Rugby Canada. Scott Lawrence made a name for himself when coaching the USA U20 program and winning promotion to the Tier 1 Junior World Championships in 2012. Stephen Aboud made a  name for himself improving the Italian U20 program and pathways.

A few interesting selections on the Canadian side, we were wondering who would get the job of Canada #10, that went to Matt Bennett. He has experience at #10 in junior club rugby but didn’t get to play that position for UVic in the BC Premier league. His counterpart, Rand Santos, has had playing time with the Cal Bears at #10. That will be one of the interesting matchups.

Morgan di Nardo on the wing is one of the danger players for Canada, Dominic Besag the outside centre for USA is their backline player to watch, he scored several tries against Canada last year in the U20 series.

In the forwards it’s surprising not to see Riku Konrad in the match 23, he plays hooker in the BC Premier with the UBCOB Ravens but wasn’t selected to start or be in the reserves.

Rugby Canada put out a social media post with graphics of the roster, USA Rugby published an article that included the roster. We’ve included the Canada roster in text below.

1. Justin Tasse
2. Jeffrey Young
3. Brighton Feldman
4. Ryan Cozens
5. Daragh Doyle
6. Grant Meadows
7. Garin Schroeder
8. Olly Wiseman
9. Patrick Kirwan
10. Matthew Bennett
11. Morgan di Nardo
12. Jimmy Leach
13. Lockhart MacGregor
14. Spencer Cotie
15. Ben Greenstein
16. Noah Kynaston
17. Dylan Shaw
18. Charles Trollip
19. Liam Kinghorn
20. Jaxson Jones
21. Marco Mitchell
22. Thomas Wells Richards
23. Caleb Seumanutafu

from Rugby Canada

from USA Rugby

Nearly two weeks after arriving in camp, the USA Men’s U20s will walk out against Canada at the Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia this Saturday, as Head Coach Neets Gericke and the coaching staff have named the first match day 23 for the World Rugby U20s Trophy Qualifier.

The first of a two-match series over the next six days, USA vs Canada kicks off at 6PM ET live on Rugby Canada YouTube.

WATCH LIVE »

The squad list will see some returning names from the 2023 U20s group, with five named to the starting fifteen and Oliver Cline coming off the bench. A line up of special young talent will also debut to the Trophy competition with Asa Rosenmeier, Brice Muller, Spencer Huntley and Major League Rugby (MLR) standout, Seth Smith called up from last year’s U18s squad. Smith is excitingly one of three players currently rostered with MLR as Dylan Fortune gets the start at No. 8 and Tevita Kutu selected as a reserve. Fortune and Kutu join the squad mid-season with Anthem Rugby Carolina, the newest professional franchise under the purview of USA Rugby and World Rugby.

32 Collegiate, Club and High School prospects arrived in northern Washington on May 18th for a training camp in lead up to the two qualifier matches. Hosted by the deWilde Rugby & Polo Fields, the squad ran through an intensive 10 days of preparation before sailing up to Langford ahead of this Saturday.

Looking back on training camp, Gericke noted, “The boys competed well back in Washington. We asked them to compete and that’s what they did, so we couldn’t have asked for anything more. We bonded well during our time together and we feel we have the right 23 on the field tomorrow.”

“The main point is for the players to connect. We want to see them communicate well on the field, feed off each other and play for each other. That’s really what it comes down to for us.”

University of California – Berkeley Sophomore, Caden Crist steps up as Captain speaking to the team energy, “Within the squad we have a lot of returning guys from last year’s campaign, so we’re hoping the experience from that group pays off; bringing the lessons learned from international competition into this first game against Canada.”

NAME	SCHOOL/CLUB
1. John-Henry Rouse	Saint Mary’s College
2. Caden Crist (C)	Univ. of California – Berkeley
3. Asa Rosenmeier	Brown University
4. Brice Muller	Babson College
5. George Engels	US Military Academy – West Point
6. Logan Ballinger	Life University
7. Daniel Lowther	St. Bonaventure University
8. Dylan Fortune	Anthem Rugby Carolina (MLR)
9. Spencer Huntley	San Diego Mustangs
10. Rand Santos	Univ. of California – Berkeley
11. Tito Edjua	Brown University
12. Max Threlkeld	Univ. of California – Berkeley
13. Dominic Besag	Saint Mary’s College
14. Emmett Cook	Univ. of California – Berkeley
15. Corbin Smith	Hartpury University
16. Seth Smith	Houston SaberCats (MLR)
17. Asbjorn Lau Ross	UCLA
18. Tevita Kutu	Anthem Rugby Carolina (MLR)
19. Miles Malone	Univ. of California – Berkeley
20. Holden Hahn	University of Kentucky
21. Judd Berman	Trinity College
22. Oliver Cline	Univ. of Central Washington
23. Keelan Farrell	Esher Rugby Club

USA Men’s U20s North American Qualifier Staff

Head Coach | Neets Gericke
Assistant Coach | Elvis Seveali’i
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matoko Noudehou
Athletic Trainer | Anna Unnasch
Team Analyst | Luke Richmond
Team Manager | Darran Coleman

USA Men’s U20s North American Qualifier Schedule
June 1, 2024
USA vs Canada Match One | 6pm ET
Shawnigan Lake School | Shawnigan Lake, BC

June 6, 2024
USA vs Canada Match Two | 10pm ET
Starlight Stadium | Langford, BC

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Rugby Canada Announce 36 Players for Canada U20 Camp: First Match Against USA on June 1st

posted May 10th 2024

Rugby Canada have announced a 36 player list for the upcoming U20 series, Canada v USA. It’s the first real test of new High Performance Director Stephen Aboud since his appointment in May 2023. He made his reputation with the Italy U20 program and has had a chance to select a U20 coach of his choosing, Christiaan Esterhuizen, so now the evaluation begins.

The first question we always ask when seeing the new U20 roster is, who is the first choice flyhalf. The forwards will be critical in determining who wins but a talented flyhalf, just like a quarterback in football, will be crucial in orchestrating the attack. In 2013 when Canada just missed out on promotion, losing to Italy in the final, they had two talented flyhalves, Pat Kay and Shane O’Leary. In 2015, the only other time they reached the top two, they had Guiseppe du Toit and Dylan Horgan, an Irish flyhalf.

We note several backline players who competed in the BC Premier season this year. Jesse Kilgour and Paddy Kirwan, scrum halves for the Pacific Pride. Ty Driscoll and Morgan di Nardo back three players from UVic can show up on the wing or at fullback, the same for Matt Bennett. Lockart MacGregor a centre at UVic. Marco Mitchell and Caleb Seumanutafa utility backs from UBC, usually in the centres.

Looking at the other backs St. George’s Ian Turnbull is a centre, Ben Greenstein a back 3 player from Queen’s, Brady Howlett a scrum half from TWU,  Leach a centre from the UK, Cotie another centre from UVic, Thomas Wells Richards from University of Waterloo. We don’t see an obvious flyhalf selection who has been getting consistent time at a high level at this position, so this will be an interesting thread to follow.

In the forwards a number of familiar names from UVic, UBC and the Pride, also Riku Konrad from the BC Premier champion UBCOB Ravens. There are also a couple of UK players from Cardiff Met, one from Bournemouth and an Irish player from Clontarf Rugby Club.

There has been no announcement of any warm up matches so with the opening match just 3 weeks away it may be a first look at the team in action on June 1st.

from Rugby Canada

Thirty-six Canadian U20 men’s players have convened at Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia for a four-week intensive high performance camp that will lead into two matches against the United States for qualification for the World Rugby U20 Trophy.

Head Coach Christiaan Esterhuizen is joined on the coaching staff by Pacific Pride assistant coach and former Canadian international Hubert Buydens, former Toronto Arrows, American Raptors and University of Guelph coach Cory Hector, and Arrows Academy and University of Toronto Backs/Kicking Coach Paddy Watson. Players will also work directly with High Performance Director Stephen Aboud and Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team Head Coach Kingsley Jones, Defence Coach John McFarland, and Attack Coach Phil Mack.

“We have been very impressed with the work ethic of this squad in this first week of camp,” said Esterhuizen. “These players have made sacrifices to be here training full-time on Vancouver Island for a month, and their hunger to play for Canada and contribute to our success internationally is clear. A lot will be asked of these players over the coming weeks, but we know that this group is ready and eager to give everything they’ve got.”

“The focus of our U20 programming, which is an important step on our pathway towards the senior national teams, is the long-term development of the next generation of Canadian rugby players,” said Aboud. “Over the next few weeks, these players will be pushed hard as they receive excellent coaching support ahead of some valuable international match experience. We look forward to continuing to work with these players as we build our depth chart and strive towards milestones such as the 2027 Rugby World Cup.”

Following camp, the team will meet the United States in a two-game series to determine the North America berth for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy.

The first match will be played at Shawnigan Lake School on Saturday June 1. This will be followed by a second match at Starlight Stadium in Langford on Thursday June 6. Further details, including kick-off times and livestream information, will be announced shortly.

The winner of the series will join seven other teams in Edinburgh, Scotland from July 2 to 17 for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy, the winner of which will earn promotion to the World Rugby U20 Championship for 2024.

CANADA’S U20 MEN’S RUGBY TEAM

FORWARDS

Angus Dewar (Vancouver, BC) – Queen’s University
Austin Allen (Thornbury, ON) – Georgian Bay Titans / Trent University
Brighton Feldman (Langford, BC) – Westshore / University of Victoria
Brodie Lowry (Montreal, QC) – Beaconsfield Rugby Club / Royal Military College
Charles Trollip (Guelph, ON) – Brantford Harlequins / University of Guelph
Daragh Doyle (Dublin, IRE) – Clontarf Rugby Club
Dylan Shaw (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Scottish RFC / University of Guelph
Eric Vann (Burlington, ON) – Burlington Centaurs / University of Toronto
Finlay Kennedy (Ringwood, ENG) – Bournemouth RFC
Garin Schroeder (Stoney Creek, ON) – Burlington Centaurs / Western University
Grant Meadows (Richmond Hill, ON) – Aurora Barbarians RFC / Brock University
Jaxson Jones (Duncan, BC) – Cowichan Rugby Club / University of Victoria
Jeffrey Young (Toronto, ON) – Toronto Nomads / Bedwas RFC
Justin Tasse (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Hornets / Bowness High School
Kyle Finan (Barnsley, ENG) – Red Deer Titans / Trinity Western University
Liam Kinghorn (Calgary, AB) – Calgary Irish / University of British Columbia
Noah Kynaston (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / [Pacific Pride]
Olly Wiseman (London, ENG) – Cardiff Metropolitan University
Presley Bosa (Vancouver, BC) – Capilano RFC / Western University
Riku Konrad (Surrey, BC) – UBCOB Ravens
Ryan Cozens (Sidmouth, ENG) – Sidmouth RFC / Cardiff Metropolitan University
Thorson Noble (Victoria, BC) – University of British Columbia

BACKS

Ben Greenstein (Vancouver, BC) – UBCOB Ravens / Queen’s University
Brady Howlett (Maple Ridge, BC) – Abbotsford Rugby Club / Trinity Western University
Caleb Seumanutafa (White Rock, BC) – Bayside Sharks / University of British Columbia
Jesse Kilgour (Barrie, ON) – Barrie RFC / Pacific Pride
Jimmy Leach (London, ENG) – Chinnor RFC / Brunel University
Liam Turnbull (Vancouver, BC) – UBCOB Ravens / St. George’s School
Lockhart MacGregor (Abbotsford, BC) – Abbotsford Panthers / University of Victoria
Matthew Bennett (Victoria, BC) – University of Victoria
Marco Mitchell (Vancouver, BC) – UBCOB Ravens / University of British Columbia
Morgan Di Nardo (Toronto, ON) – Toronto City Rugby / University of Victoria
Patrick Kirwan (Vancouver, BC) – Meralomas
Spencer Cotie (Victoria, BC) – Castaway Wanderers / University of Victoria
Thomas Wells Richards (Toronto, ON) – Balmy Beach RFC / University of Waterloo
Ty Driscoll (Victoria, BC) – Pacific Pride

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USA Name U20 Squad for North American Qualifier Against  Canada in June

We’re expecting some announcement from Rugby Canada this week but USA are ahead of the curve and released their roster May 1st. The two game series will be held in the Victoria area, one game at Shawnigan and one at Starlight Stadium in Langford. The date of the first match, likely at Shawnigan, is Saturday June 1st according to sources. The second match is June 6th or 8th, we should find out this week, and that will likely be at Starlight Stadium. The winner of the series represents North America at the JWRT in Scotland this year.

The Canada men’s U20 team are currently holding their camp at Shawnigan in preparation. There hasn’t been a lot of information available to media on Canada’s preparation.

Canada entered the Tier 2 Junior World Rugby Trophy (JWRT) in 2010, previously they were in the Tier 1 Junior World Championship (JWC). Canada have qualified every year except 2016 and 2023, the event was cancelled due to COVID in 2020, 2021, 2022. In 2016 the series was hosted in Austin, Texas and Ben Cima won it for USA with a 54 metre kick at the whistle. 2023 was a different story, and USA were dominant in a 82-35 series aggregate score, that series was held in South Carolina. Canada have never failed to qualify for the JWRT when they’re hosting.

The largest contributor to the USA men’s U20 team are the Cal Bears, the traditional opponent of UBC in the World News Cup competition. Cal has 6 players on the list even though they didn’t make the final 8 this year, they were defeated by Saint Mary’s in the group of 16, Saint Mary’s went on to win the USA College Championship defeating Navy. Saint Mary’s has 2 players on the list of 32. Anthem Rugby who play in the MLR have 4 players on the list.

from USA Rugby

Head Coach Johannes Neethling Gericke leads the USA Men’s U20s into their 2024 campaign next month, as the squad of 32 is named for the annual World Rugby U20s Trophy North American qualifier series against Canada.

Following last year’s first U20s Trophy appearance since 2016, the program with returning names and a capped USA Eagle look to repeat and punch their ticket to Scotland.

Match days, times and live stream information will be shared when confirmed.

Head Coach Neethling Gericke said on the player selections, “We are very excited about this group of young men, with a good mix of USA Rugby experience and some new energy to the U20s camp. Throughout the year, the wider group has kept aligned through different touch points, where they have shown dedication to the U20s campaign and earned this opportunity to represent the USA. Now the time has come to showcase what we can do together, I believe we have selected the right group of players to carry this program forward.”

Head Coach | Johannes Neethling Gericke
Assistant Coach | Elvis Seveali’i
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Matoko Noudehou
Team Manager | Darran Coleman
Team Analyst | Luke Richmond

Selected from a identified pool of 52 players at or under the age of 20, the full traveling squad will arrive in Bellingham, WA on May 18 for a 10-day training camp at the deWilde Rugby & Polo Fields, before heading to Canada for the qualifier series. Men’s 15s General Manager Scott Lawrence and Pathways Manager Brendan Keane continue to commit assembly time to the core of development players, with new additions in 2024. Of the 32 selected, 11 return from the 2023 qualifier and Trophy rosters, with six elevated from the 2023 Men’s U18s touring roster in Amsterdam. The remaining half of those names will make their first USA Rugby camp appearance, both from college and club play and seven names invited out to the Winter Camp this past December in North Carolina, also under the tutelage of Gericke. 2023 Captain, Dominic Besag will return to the group, following his appearance with the USA Men’s National Team last summer, earning his first test cap against Georgia and bringing senior side experience to the young group.

Gericke and Pathways Manager Brendan Keane now look forward to a momentous 2024 off the back of great foundations set last year. A critical piece to the puzzle in long-term planning is a fundraising and support initiative aimed at offering the most time and resources possible to the Junior National Teams. Lawrence has laid out a grid of necessities that goes into funding a single player – from travel, accommodations, coaching and supplies, where there is a significant amount of player support required. While World Rugby grants support the team for competition windows, gifts from generous donors are a crucial part of the plan, and ultimate growth for the USA Eagles on the world stage.