We're into the placement games and playoffs for the Junior World Championships.
Every team gets to play five games in this tournament, with Sunday, July 12 and Monday, July 13 being the day for the 4th matches for everyone.
The final placement matches will be held July 17 and July 18.
For the USA, this is a 13th-place semifinal, with the four teams that finished last in their pools playing off for the final four spots.
So USA (seeded 15th thanks to 1 point in the standings and a points difference of -143) will play Japan (1 point and a -44). In the other 13th-place semifinal, #13 seed Spain (3 standings points) will play #16 Uruguay (0 points).
USA Head Coach Neets Gericke has been able to get every player on the field during pool play. Now he returns to a lineup he feels is the strongest. Spencer Huntley captains the side from scrumhalf.
The 11 tries the USA scored in pool play were scored by nine players, and six of those try-scorers are starting on Sunday. Two more players are on the reserves bench. Only Jameson Beatty (who has an injury) isn't in the lineup.
The USA team has just about kicked the illness that ran through the lineup, but Gericke told GRR they're not yet 100% back.
As a result, during Friday's captain's run, only 18 players participated so others would be fully rested.
The illness has had its influence in selections. Tyler Trower and Will Darbishire have logged the most minutes, in part because they have been able to fill in for ill teammates. Lock Lyndon Bailey has been excellent, and Gericke said he "put in a tremendous shift" last week.
Those hard workers up front have been able to unleash the exciting open-field runners such as Dane Mitchell and Gavin Holder.
And then there's Papa Matelau, who leads the team in carries when he's on the field.
"We rely on his ball-carrying abilities," said Gericke, revealing exactly zero secrets. "When he carries well, our backs flourish."
But they can't rely on him alone. In this game, lock Frank Finicle, of Jesuit New Orleans and now at Loyola University in the same city, will also be a hard carrier in traffic to spell Matelau.
"That's exciting for this team," said Gericke.
