U-19 World Championship: Day Eight Bulletin

IRB UNDER-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – DIVISION A PLAY-OFF FIXTURES:

– Tuesday, April 17 –

10th-11th Play-Off – Fiji v Scotland, Belfast Harlequins, 5.30pm
9th-12th Play-Off – Ireland v Japan, Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast, 7.30pm
6th-7th Play-Off – England v Argentina, Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast, 5.30pm
5th-8th Play-Off – France v Samoa, Belfast Harlequins, 7.30pm
2nd-3rd Play-Off – Australia v South Africa, Ravenhill, 5.30pm
1st-4th Play-Off – New Zealand v Wales, Ravenhill, 7.30pm

LEGACY PROGRAMME ACTIVITY: The Chile and Samoa U-19 national squads will both be hosting open training sessions on Wednesday.

Chile will hold their open session at 11am at the grounds of Belfast High School. Pupils from Belfast HS and Rostulla Special School in Jordanstown will watch the team preparing for their next match against Zimbabwe on Friday.

There will be public access to the Samoans’ training run, which begins at 3.30pm at Sullivan Upper School on Wednesday. After the session, there will be a schools fixture between the Sullivan 1st XV and an Ulster Schools selection (kick-ooff 4.15pm).

Meanwhile, Megan Bourke from Holywood PS, who won the Legacy Quiz, will watch the England team train this Friday at Pirrie Park with the rest of her class. Megan was the winner of the Primary School Legacy Quiz on www.ulsterrugby.com.

PLAYER/TEAM STATISTICS SO FAR: See below for a list of the top points and try scorers – both from a player and team point of view – after 42 of the scheduled 60 matches to be played at the 2007 IRB U-19 World Championship.

2007 IRB UNDER-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: PLAYER STATISTICS

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

51 – German Albanell (Uruguay)
45 – Sione Toke (Tonga)
43 – Riccardo Bocchino (Italy)
39 – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
37 – Daniel Kirkpatrick (New Zealand)
30 – Nathan Hirayama (Canada)
28 – Titi Jnr Esau (Samoa), Stefan Watermeyer (South Africa)
26 – Stephen McColl (Scotland)
25 – Alex Goode (England), Kade Poki (New Zealand), Hamish Roberts (USA)
22 – Beka Tsikiauri (Georgia)
21 – Tichafara Makwanya (Zimbabwe), Ignacio Poet Belmonte (Argentina)
20 – Andrew Barrett (Australia), Luke Braid (New Zealand), Alberto Chiesa (Italy), Blair Connor (Australia), Bogdan Petreanu (Romania)

Top Irish points scorer – 8 – Scott Deasy

TOP TRY SCORERS –

5 – Kade Poki (New Zealand)
4 – Andrew Barrett (Australia), Luke Braid (New Zealand), Alberto Chiesa (Italy), Blair Connor (Australia), Bogdan Petreanu (Romania), Lepaola Tauveli (Tonga)
3 – Robert Fruean (New Zealand), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Manuel Sagarra (Uruguay), Diego Schachner (Chile), Stefan Watermeyer (South Africa)
2 – German Albanell (Uruguay), Riccardo Bocchino (Italy), Kyle Buckley (Canada), Alberto Cazzola (Italy), Tanaka Chamunokara (Zimbabwe), Ryan Crotty (New Zealand), Stephan Dippenaar (South Africa), Hugo Ellis (England)

Top Irish try scorers – 1 – Paddy Brophy, Niall Morris, Eoin O’Malley, Michael Sherry

2007 IRB UNDER-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: TEAM STATISTICS

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

178 – New Zealand
140 – Tonga
133 – Italy
111 – Uruguay
81 – Georgia
76 – Wales
75 – Canada, South Africa
68 – Australia
65 – Chile
60 – Samoa
56 – Argentina
52 – Romania
51 – Zimbabwe
50 – England, USA
44 – Cook Islands
42 – Fiji
41 – Scotland
39 – France
33 – Russia
31 – Chinese Taipei
28 – Ireland
26 – Japan

TOP TRY SCORERS –

28 – New Zealand
20 – Italy, Tonga
14 – Uruguay
12 – Georgia, South Africa
10 – Australia, Chile, Wales
9 – Argentina, Canada
8 – Romania
6 – Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Zimbabwe
5 – Chinese Taipei, England, USA
4 – France, Ireland, Russia
3 – Japan, Scotland

…Official Merchandise from the 2007 IRB U-19 World Championship, which is being held at six match venues in Belfast and Bangor, is available at www.irbu19.kukrisports.com…

SAY WHAT?:

“It was our main goal to progress to Division A, now we are one step closer. We were confident in our lineout and we talked before the game about taking the points when the opportunity arose.

“In the second half we were confident playing with the wind. The final against Italy will be a great occasion.”

– Canadian out-half Nathan Hirayama on his side’s 19-3 Division B semi-final win over Georgia, which book them a place in the final against Italy

“It’s pretty good (being the top try scorer), I’m just finishing them off. We’ve got good insides and I just finish them off. I haven’t actually looked (at the top try scorers list), I’ve just been told by my mum!

“I never played wing until the start of this campaign, so I’ve been learning a lot. I’d say they’d (Wales) be pretty physical up front. I’m not sure what to expect from the back line. They could alter their defence from watching our videos and stuff. It will be a tough contest.”

– New Zealand winger Kade Poki, the top try scorer in the tournament with five tries in three games, is expecting a tough battle against Wales in tonight’s Division A semi-final at Ravenhill

“Tonight was the best game we have played, so I am very happy. We came here hoping to be involved in the final against either Tonga or Italy.

“We knew that the Georgians would play a physical game, but we also knew that we could stand up to them and use our own physicality to knock them over. Italy look like a class team but we believe we can beat them.”

– Canada coach Gary Johnston reflects on his side’s victory over Georgia at Gibson Park