World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Preview – Japan U20 vs HKCR U20

Japan and Hong Kong China have the honour of kicking off the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 on Tuesday, 2 July at Hive Stadium and surprisingly, this will be their first meeting in a World Rugby tournament.

The Japanese were relegated to this competition after finishing 12th in the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 in South Africa, while Hong Kong China competed in the Trophy tournament in Kenya in 2023 and qualified after winning the Asia Rugby U19 tournament in late 2023.

Japan captain Yoshiaki Taian said: “We want to do our best to win this tournament so that we can show what we have done for this competition. It is important to win every single game, and we would like to win all of them and go back to the Championship.“ The Japanese have won this tournament three times previously and finished runner-up three times.

Japanese U20 Head Coach Naoya Okubo (a former Brave Blossom himself) selected 17 forwards and 11 backs for the tournament in Scotland and most of the squad in Edinburgh is drawn from nine Japanese universities with Meiji University contributing the largest number of players (9).

Naoya Okubo guided the Japan XV team to the World Rugby Pacific Challenge 2024 title beating Manuma Samoa, Fiji Warriors and Tonga A in Samoa, and most of this U20 squad was involved, even though that championship was eligible for U23 players.

You can read more in our collaboration piece with Hong Kong China Rugby on their tournament expectations and squad.

Hong Kong China U20s Head Coach Joe Barker who is the Hong Kong China head coach for his first U20 Trophy having been an assistant coach to Logan Asplin for the 2023 edition in Kenya, said there is a lot of talent and personality, with some of the squad players having been involved at the 2023 Trophy tournament and quite a few players have also been playing in the Premiership in Hong Kong, while others have played overseas.

Second-row Callum FitzHenry, who has appeared in the last two U19 Asia Rugby Championships (HKCR has won 8 consecutive titles) and been based in Edinburgh the past year at St. Andrews, said that he has seen the squad grow and develop, “the team feels so much more connected as we have been playing together and the team is similar to that which played the ARC.”

Hong Kong China Captain Oliver Clarke added that the team is excited and that the whole squad had been working hard in preparation. “Everyone is willing to put their head down and keen to put the work in, in Scotland. For me personally to play for Hong Kong China is a huge honour – it is where my heart is and it means everything to me (having grown up and played rugby in Hong Kong).”

This is HKCR’s 8th appearance at the U20 Trophy tournament and they have finished between 6-8th at every previous appearance. They will be hoping to add to the 2 wins in 28 matches at this level to date.

The match officials have also been confirmed for the opening two rounds with Ru Campbell (Scotland) taking charge of the opening game of the tournament between Japan and Hong Kong China.

RESULT: Japan 105-20 Hong Kong China

Matchday Squads World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 –  Japan vs HKCR

Japan Matchday Squad vs Hong Kong China

Hong Kong China Matchday Squad vs Japan

You can see more on the HKCR announcement here.

How To Watch The World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024

Matches at the World Rugby U20 Trophy can be watched anywhere in the world for free on RugbyPass TV.

World Rugby added that matches can be viewed via local broadcast partners BBC Alba for Scotland matches and the Japan Rugby Football Union for Japan’s matches. A two-hour delay will apply in the UK for all Scotland matches as well as the third place play-off and final.

International Rugby Tournaments 2024

• 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy – Teams & Fixtures Guide.
• Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Rugby Sevens Pools.
• 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship.
• WXV 2024 Details Confirmed – WXV 3 Heads Back To Dubai.