The World Rugby U20 Trophy kicks off in Scotland with the first round matches two days later.
The eight captains gathered for a photoshoot on Saturday at West Sands Beach in St. Andrews, Scotland, known as the location where the opening scenes of the Oscar-winning movie “Star Wars: Episode I” were filmed. Chariots of Fire Japan and Hong Kong will face off in the U-20 Trophy at 11:45am local time at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. Japan finished bottom of last year’s U-20 World Championship and were relegated to the 2024 trophy.
“We want to do our best to win this tournament and show what we’ve done,” said Japan team captain Yoshiaki Oyasu. “It’s important to win every match, and we want to win every match and get back to the championship.”
Tournament hosts Scotland, who finished third in last year’s U-20 Trophy in Kenya after being relegated from the 2019 U-20 Championship, will face Samoa in the other Pool A match.
Uruguay, winners of the inaugural U-20 Trophy in 2008, will face Kenya in the first Pool B match, while the United States, winners of the trophy in 2012, will face the Netherlands on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Netherlands captain Kit Temperley added: “It’s our first time competing so we’re really excited. It’s a big event for the whole country and we can’t wait to get here and prove ourselves. We feel we belong here and we want to get started quickly. We’re cherishing every moment. We know it will be a high-level match but we’re confident and we can’t wait to show what we can do.”
“People will say rugby isn’t that popular. [the Netherlands] “There are things like that, but we’re definitely improving. The girls qualified for the World Cup with WXV, the boys qualified for the World Cup, and here we are. I don’t think we should take it lightly that we’re here. We’re here to make a statement and we can’t wait to show what we can do. This is going to be very helpful for the younger generation and all the guys coming up.”
