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Both Canada and the USA have named their sides to play in a one-off match on Saturday evening with the winner earning the right to contest the World Rugby u20 Trophy tournament in April. Canada defeated their Southern counterparts in two matches last year, and will be keen to repeat their success in the new one format. The game will take place immediately following the Americas Rugby Championship match between the same countries, to be played at Dell Diamond in Austin, Texas.
The Men’s Junior All-Americans last competed at the World Rugby level in the 2013 Championship, a team that included current ARC squad members Cameron Falcon, Tom Bliss, Mike Te’o, and Lemoto Filitonga. The latter two will be playing in the senior game on Saturday. Team captain Hanco Germishuys will join the group following the match.
Returning players from last year’s team include Germishuys, prop Nick Kwasniewski, and starting halfbacks Louis Mulholland and Ben Cima. Both Mulholland and Cima have been invited to senior training camps over the past year. Other notables include Brennan Falcon, brother of Cameron, and impressive athletes Deion Mikesell and Lorenzo Thomas.
Canada meanwhile feature nine returning players, eight in the starting lineup. Cali Martinez gets the nod over fellow repeater Brendan Blaikie at loosehead, with giant bookend Matt Tierney back on the tighthead side. Reegan O’Gorman starts at lock, with lineout specialist Adrian Wadden on the blindside and dynamic carrier Luke Bradley at no8. New Canada 7s cap Phil Berna forms an imposing midfield with George Barton, while Theo Sauder and captain Andrew Coe return to add potency in the wide spaces.
The match will be streamed live by USA Rugby, with kickoff set for 8:45pm local, 9:45 EST, 6:45 PST.
AIG MEN’S JUNIOR ALL-AMERICANS
1 Connor Cudeback 2 Steven Branham 3 Nick Kwasniewski 4 Sean Coleman 5 Malon Al-Jiboori 6 Veuki Taumoefolau 7 Brennan Falcon 8 Hanco Germishuys (capt.) 9 Louis Mulholland 10 Ben Cima 11 Deion Mikesell 12 Brian Hannon 13 Lorenzo Thomas 14 Tyler Sousley 15 Mitch Wilson
16 Zach Haley 17 Chance Wenglewski 18 Mason Pedersen 19 Josh Warnock 20 George Fotu 21 Ruben de Haas 22 Rodney Giles 23 Devin Lim
Head Coach – JD Stephenson
Strength & Conditioning / Skills Coach – Justin Goonan
Forwards Coach – Peter Borlase
Analyst – James Walton
Manager / Backs Coach – Michael Engelbrecht
Skills Coach – David Fee
Technical Advisor – Scott Lawrence
Academy Manager / Skills Coach – Kevin Battle
CANADA u20
1 Cali Martinez 2 AJ Quattrin 3 Matt Tierney 4 Reegan O’Gorman 5 Conor Keys 6 Adrian Wadden 7 Nakai Penny 8 Luke Bradley 9 Cole Keffer 10 Robbie Povey 11 Theo Sauder 12 George Barton 13 Phil Berna 14 Trent Cooper 15 Andrew Coe (capt.)
16 Conor Sampson 17 Brendan Blaikie 18 Curtis Delmonico 19 Matt Beukeboom 20 Peter Milazzo 21 Keaton Porter 22 Mitch Richardson 23 Aaron Evison
Head Coach – Jeff Williams
Assistant Coach – Kenny Goodland
Manager – Jack Hanratty
Video Analyst – Aaron Takel
Strength & Conditioning – Gareth Lynch
Physiotherapist – Jessica Smith
Medical – Dr. Andrew Dold
