GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

USA U20s Get Set for World U20 Trophy

irish rugby tours

USA U20s Get Set for World U20 Trophy

Captains meet before the game.

The World Rugby U20 Trophy kicks off Saturday with four games on the slate.

The USA, after beating Canada in convincing fashion, is back in this competition and will take on a very tough Uruguay side in the first game of Pool Play.

Head Coach Kyle Sumsion said he would not necessarily be locked into the lineup of players after the Canada qualifiers, and indeed there are changes, especially in the backline. 

Notable is Dominic Besag, who returns to the lineup and is now captain of the squad after an excellent showing against Canada. Besage, moves in a spot from outside center to inside center. The USA team has a decidedly Californian flavor, with Besag being one, but wing Iosefa Toia'ivao, prop John Wilson, and wing Sosaia Pongi all also coming from Saint Mary's College of California. Cal sees standout fullback Reed Santos, who got his start in the Philippines, and Case Crist returning at hooker. Two more Bears are on the reserves bench.

Perhaps the most notable changes are Tommy Hannon of Indiana coming in at scrumhalf and Aisake Tukuafu slotting in at outside center.

Notable also is the very powerful Dylan Fortune, now at Lindenwood but a former star for Cathedral Catholic in Southern California. He steps in at lock and should be a huge factor.

Of course Uruguay will be a very difficult matchup for the Americans: Powerful in set piece, strong in contact, excellent kickers, and surprising. As Sumsion said, these three pool games (Uruguay, Zimbabwe, and Scotland) are all winnable, and they are all losable 

Saturday World Rugby U20 Trophy games (all in Nairobi, Kenya).

Scotland vs Zimbabwe 3AM ET
Samoa vs Kenya 5AM ET
Uruguay vs USA 7AM ET
Spain vs Hong Kong 9AM ET

All games shown on Kenya Rugby's Youtube Page. Direct link here>>

USA U20s vs Uruguay
  Name College HS Team
1 John Wilson Saint Mary's  East HS, Colo.
2 Cade Crist Cal Torrey Pines, Calif.
3 Connor Devos Lindenwood  Woodlands, Texas
4 Dylan Fortune Lindenwood  Cathedral Catholic, Calif.
5 Will Sherman UCLA East HS, Utah
6 Cameron McAlpine Brown University King's College, UK
7 Hayden McKay Young Glory  Takapuna Gram., NZ
8 Aidan Christians USA Hawks Scots Coll. NZ
9 Tommy Hannon Indiana Royal Irish, Ind.
10 Hugh O'Kennedy Trinity College Dublin  
11 Iosefa Toia'ivao Saint Mary's  Keanrs, Utah
12 Dominic Besag (C) Saint Mary's  De La Salle, Calif.
13 Aisake Tukuafu   Herriman HS, Utah
14 Sosaia Pongi Saint Mary's  Menlo-Atherton, Calif.
15 Rand Santos Cal Int'l Sch. Manila
       
  Reserves    
16 John Vinter Cal Gonzaga, DC
17 Declan Dolan Penn State Gonzaga, DC
18 Jaydon Brooks USA Hawks  
19 Jackson Cain Life University South Greenville, SC
20 Logan Ballinger Life University Boca Rugby, Fla.
21 Solomon Williams Cal Thunder, Calif.
22 Oliver Cline Central Washington  St. Peter's, NZ
23 Corbin Smith Hartpury University Trumbull, Conn.