World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Preview Placement Round – Hong Kong China vs Kenya & Japan vs Uruguay

It’s the final matchday of the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, and Hong Kong China will face Kenya in the 7th place playoff, while Japan take on last year’s losing finalists Uruguay for 3rd place on Wednesday 17 July.

Hong Kong China U20 have yet to win a game this tournament but came closest against Samoa in their final pool game, where apart from ten minutes in the second half, they were in contention. This followed two heavy defeats to Japan and Scotland, so they will be targeting this final match against Kenya who are also winless at the tournament.

The sides have played once before, in Kenya last year, and the hosts were 22-16 winners with the current Hong Kong China squad including 9 players who played that game.

Kenya were the lowest points and try scorers in the pool stages, so Hong Kong China will need to hold them defensively and use the ball they did so well in parts of the Samoan game to avoid a 6th eighth-place finish in 8 years, and if they win, it will be only their third in U20 Trophy history.

HKCR Captain Oli Clarke said: “The last game against Kenya is our chance to put all our hard work into a tangible result. The Kenyans bring a high level of physicality and athletic ability similar to the Samoans, so our game plan will remain relatively unchanged. However, a big focus on clinical execution and managing the game’s momentum has been pushed by the coaching staff, and we intend to honour it.”

Japan, who came into the U20 Trophy determined to bounce back to the U20 Championship, came unstuck against a strong home team in the final pool game and will need to settle for a possible best finish of third, but the South Americans will be no pushovers. They lost the 2023 final 32-39 to Spain and only lost to the USA 15-32 to be denied a place in the final. Uruguay only conceded 4 tries in the pool stages, which was the joint fewest along with Scotland.

The two sides have played three times previously and the Japanese are ahead 2-1, however, this is the first time the sides have met outside of the pool stage at the U20 Trophy. Japan U20 Head coach Naoya Okubo will hope his side have put the Scottish loss behind them, which also ended their 13-match winning run in the competition.

For the title decider, Scotland will play the USA to earn the right to compete in the U20 Championship in 2025. To date, there have been ten different countries who have won the World Rugby U20 Trophy, and if Scotland is victorious, they will become the 11th new winner.

All of the fixtures and results can be seen here.

Matchday Squads World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Placement Round

Hong Kong China Matchday Squad vs Kenya

Japan Matchday Squad vs Uruguay

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.
• World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Preview – Japan U20 vs HKCR U20.
• World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Preview Round 2 – Japan vs Samoa & HKCR vs Scotland.
• World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Preview Round 3 – Japan vs Scotland & Hong Kong China vs Samoa.