IRB Junior World Championship
JWC hits semi-final stage
Scrum.com
June 16, 2009

The IRB Junior World Championship has reached the semi-final stage, with Australia and New Zealand going toe-to-toe before South Africa take on England in Tokyo in Wednesday.

Both Australia and New Zealand progressed to the semis after heavy wins, the young Wallabies defeating Wales 38-5 and their New Zealand counterparts thrashing Argentina 48-9. New Zealand coach Dave Rennie is relishing the luxury of being able to pick his strongest team for the semi-final as captain Aaron Cruden and loose-head prop Willie Ioane, unavailable for the pool game against Argentina through injury, return to bolster the New Zealanders for the game.

"We have had a full complement of players to pick from for this match," Rennie said. "We're very excited about the team we have selected and look forward to the challenge ahead in this semi-final."

For Australia, hooker Damian Fitzpatrick takes the captain's armband in a side that has been shorn of Waratahs utility back Kurtley Beale, who will miss the remainder of the tournament with a hamstring tear. Beale's place in the side is taken by Dane Haylett-Petty while Queensland Reds wing Rod Davies will be looking to add to his already impressive haul of tries during the tournament.

"It's nice to have made it through to the semis," said Australian coach David Nucifora. "We set ourselves fairly high goals at the start of this campaign and we think we are capable of winning it if we play to our potential. It's good to have made it this far but we know we have a lot of work still in front of us if we want to achieve what we came here for."

After the Trans-Tasman contest attention turns to the second semi-final where the Baby Boks will be looking to get past least year's runners-up England. The Boks will be without fullback Sias Ebersohn, who was handed a three-week ban earlier this week for a dangerous tackle during their victory over France in the final group game. His place in the side is taken by Francois Brummer, while the other change sees Marnus Schoeman start on the openside flank.

"We are going to have to play our best rugby and cut out all possible errors when we play England (on Wednesday)," said Sauls. "I have coached at club level in the United Kingdom before, so hopefully I know what to expect from a team like England. They will pose questions to our defensive systems and physically we have to match their forward pack. They finished top of their Pool in the group stages and were impressive in their victories over their opponents."

England are able to call on Sale's James Gaskell in the second-row, the lock replacing Gloucester's Dan Williams. The only other change for England comes on the bench, where winger Jack Cobden replaces his Leicester team-mate Greig Tonks.

London Irish fullback Tom Homer starts in a back-line filled with Guinness Premiership experience. Leicester's Ben Youngs and new Harlequins signing Rory Clegg are the half-backs, with Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples and Bristol centre Luke Eves also starting. Leeds flanker Calum Clark leads the side.

"Everybody's had an opportunity to play and we feel that this side is the strongest one we can put out for this game," said England coach Mark Mapletoft. "James Gaskell comes back and that's hard on Dan Williams, who's done well, but James has had an outstanding season for us. There are a number of other tough calls in areas like the back row where Josh Ovens has done well all season. James Clark produced a good strong performance on Saturday, scrummed well, out lineout was good and South Africa will be a big threat in the tight. It's another tough call but Jamie George sitting on the bench gives us a good option in the second half."

Australia v New Zealand, Tokyo, 08.00 GMT

Australia: Dane Haylett-Petty, Rod Davies, Afusipa Taumoepeau, Ben Tapui, Robbie Coleman, Matt Toomua, Richard Kingi, Jake Schatz, Sam Latinipulu, Andrew Shaw, Robert Simmons, David McDuling, James Slipper, Damian Fitzpatrick (capt), Albert Anae

Replacements: Nathan Charles, Ben Whittaker, Kane Douglas, Tom Murday, Nick White, Peter Betham, Corey Brown

New Zealand: Robbie Robinson, Nafi Tuitavake,Winston Stanley, Shaun Treeby, Zac Guildford, Aaron Cruden (capt), Frae Wilson, Trent Boswell-Wakefield, Bernie Hall, Brendon O'Connor, Shahn Eru, Alex Ryan, Ma'afu Fia, Brayden Mitchell, Willie Ioane

Replacements: Shae Tamati, Latu Talakai, Leighton Price, Elliot Dixon, Tom Taylor, Codey Rei, Ken Pisi

England v South Africa, Tokyo, 10.00 GMT

England: Tom Homer, George Lowe, Henry Trinder, Luke Eves, Charlie Sharples, Rory Clegg, Ben Youngs, Ben Moon, James Clark, Bob Baker, Graham Kitchener, James Gaskell, Courtney Lawes, Calum Clark (capt), Carl Fearns

Replacements: Jamie George, Shaun Knight, Dan Williams, Josh Ovens, Dave Lewis, Rob Miller, Jack Cobden

South Africa: Francois Brummer, Gerhard van den Heever, Nicolaas Hanekom, Robert Ebersohn (capt), Sampie Mastriet, Lionel Cronje, Ross Cronje, Christiaan Stander, Rynhardt Elstadt, Marnus Schoeman, David Bulbring, Jan Andre Marais, Coenraad Oosthuizen, Kyle Cooper, Morne Mellet

Replacements: Zane Botha, Julian Redelinghuys, Caylib Oosthuizen, Kenechukwu Ofakor, Yaasir Hartzenberg, Rudy Paige, Johan Sadie

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