USA U20s Hit the Beach in Scotland
USA U20s Hit the Beach in Scotland
The World Rugby U20 Trophy kicks off in two days with the first round of matches in Scotland.
The eight captains met up on West Sands Beach in St Andrews, Scotland, on Saturday for a photo shoot. This location is known for being where the opening scenes of the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire were shot.Japan and Hong Kong kick off the U20 Trophy at 11:45 local time on at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. Japan finished last in the U20 World Championship last year and were relegated into the Trophy for 2024.
“We want to do our best to win this tournament so that we can show what we have done for this competition," said Japan captain Yoshiaki Taian. "It is important to win every single game, and we would like to win all of them and go back to the Championship.“
Tournament hosts Scotland, who finished third in the U20 Trophy in Kenya last year after being relegated from the U20 Championship in 2019, will face Samoa in the other Pool A match.
Uruguay, winners of the inaugural U20 Trophy in 2008, will face Kenya in the first Pool B match while the USA, Trophy champions in 2012, will take on the Netherlands at 2:45PM ET on Tuesday.
Netherlands captain Kit Temperley added: “It is our first time here so we are really, really excited for it. It is a big thing for the country as a whole and we really can't wait to prove ourselves here. We feel like we should be here and we can't wait to get started. We are taking every moment as it comes, we know it is going to be a high level but we do back ourselves and we can't wait to show how good we are.
“People probably say something about rugby isn't that big there [the Netherlands] and those type of things, but it is definitely growing and we have got the women in WXV and qualification for the World Cup, the men will be doing World Cup qualification and we are here and we don't think it should be taken lightly that we are here. We are here to make a statement and we can't wait to show ourselves. This will help so much with the younger generations and everyone coming through.”
The USA U20s and Netherlands U20s played each other at the Correndon Summer Tour in the Netherlands in 2022, with the USA winning 31-27.
Each team will play three pool matches with those finishing top of Pool A and B to play in the final onf July 17. The winner earns promotion to the 2025 U20 Championships. Every team plays a rankings game on the 17th.
Important for all of these teams is that they will be operating under new World Rugby Council-approved law changes. They will also be trialing new laws and a new TMO protocol:
Law Changes:
- A change of onside from kicks in open play. Players will now be deemed offside when an opposition player catches the ball and runs five meters, or passes the ball. Offside players must now make an attempt to retreat to be put back onside.
- Teams can no longer take a scrum from a free-kick. Free-kicks must either be tapped or kicked to encourage more ball in flow.
- Players can no longer roll and twist another player in the tackle area (also called as the crocodile roll or gator roll) and the action will now be sanctioned by a penalty.
Law Trials
A player receiving a red card can be replaced by another player after 20 minutes. The red-carded player cannot return to the field.
Teams will have 30 seconds for setting scrum and lineout and a maximum of 60 seconds for conversions which aligns with the time allowed for penalty kicks at goal.
The scrumhalf can’t be played while the ball is still near a tackle, ruck or maul. The offside line at the scrum for the non-putting in scrumhalf will be the middle of the tunnel. This should create cleaner play and keep the ball in flow for longer.
Teams can now mark the ball inside the 22m area from a restart.
Teams must play the ball after the maul has been stopped once, not twice.
If a lineout is not straight but uncontested (i.e. no pod lifted to compete), play will continue.
TMO Process Trial
The TMO will have power to identify clear and obvious infringements in the final attacking passage of play before scoring (knock on, forward pass and in touch) and within the final two phases specifically (offside, maul obstruction and tackle complete).
The referral can be made by any member of the team of four match officials.
Previously, the TMO could only intervene on infringements within the final two phases.
