USA Men’s U20 head coach Johannes ‘Neets’ Gericke is proud of his squad ahead of their 13th place Junior World Championship semi-final with Japan.
The USA played their final match of pool play falling 73-22 to Ireland, in what could only be branded a ‘pool of death’. The USA also dropped their two other group matches against Argentina [78-14] and England [68-40], proving the extensive challenge that playing in the Junior World Championship presents. Regardless of results, the young USA prospects have to start somewhere and that place is still best to be at the top table with top teams.
Gericke said following the third match of pool play, “When you reflect on it and what we were able to do this week, for the team to play their third game together as a squad against a team like Ireland, I am proud of the boys.”
While he smarted from watching his team conceding 11 tries against the Irish in Tbilisi, Gericke also revealed the team suffered a virus taking out the squad.
“I am very proud of what these guys have done and the strength that they have shown through adversity,” Gericke said. “It happened right before the England game. We had guys on IVs, and we had to change our squad.
“It was a tough captain’s run. There were actually two guys in the original squad where we had to tell them, I do not think it would be good for you to play this game. So we had to make roster changes again.”
Even with a disjointed lead-up to the Ireland fixture, positives can be found. Against Ireland the USA did not concede a try from the lineout. An improvement from the early matches against Argentina and England across the previous two weeks.In each game Gericke is able to pick out something that his team did well. Their campaign in Georgia has been one of constant improvement.
Just one warm-up fixture – against their Georgian counterparts – preceded the 78-14 loss to the Pumitas. It was a chastening day, but also a reminder of the level this new crop of youngsters had to rise to.
Pool C bunkmates Argentina, England and Ireland have enjoyed U20 Rugby Championship and Six Nations U20 Championship campaigns. In contrast the USA had three camps before boarding their flight to Georgia.
Three matches at this tournament have already provided the USA with better results than their last outing in this tournament in 2013. All those years ago in France, the Eagles only mustered three points [from the boot of Liam Bourke] from their three pool matches. Ultimately the Eagles finished 12th overall out of the 12 teams that competed.
Against the English, the USA flexed their muscle in attack. Dane Mitchell scored a hat-trick, while William Darbishire, Jameson Beatty and Gavin Holder also crossed the whitewash. Holder slotted five of his six conversions.
The final score, 68-40 in favor of England. It was the most points a team has put past the four-time Junior World Championship winners since their fifth-place final loss against Australia 12 months ago.
“The boys were happy about their ability to score [against England],” Gericke said. “You look at the sources of our tries, some of them were from scrambled starts, but then some were scored from planned set-pieces.
“Those are the moments we are very proud of – when the things we plan out, that we talk about, the things that we train and get to train, actually work on the field. The boys find a lot of confidence in those things.”
When asked to pick standout performers from the group stages, Gericke stopped for a moment and answered all of his players. In no short part because of the resilience that they have shown on and off the pitch.
From the viewers perspective, Captain and scrumhalf Spencer Huntley is one. Hat-trick hero against England, Dane Mitchell, is understandably another. Another is playmaking full-back Gavin Holder. Eight-man Papaseea Matelau also earns praise for his relentless work-rate in attack and defense.
But it is Frank Finicle that gets a particularly special mention. It was only in the spring that Finicle came to the attention of age-grade coaches. A member of Loyola University of New Orlean’s Division II program, he was originally recommended to Gericke as a prop. And quickly moved into the back-row.
“He came into April training camp, we gave him the invite the day before, and he just said; I would love to try out,” Gericke said. “We gave him an opportunity. He took everything in like a sponge.
“He was recommended as a prop and we said; this man is a flanker. He learned as much as he could, asked good questions – a kid that has American pride from Louisiana. A gem in the rough.
“You love to find those guys that come from a small college, that don’t play a lot of meaningful match minutes. Now with this opportunity he has played Argentina, England and Ireland. A guy with five years of rugby experience. Those are the guys that excite me.”
Gericke and his squad now have two more games to look forward to in Georgia. In the 13th place semi-final they will face-off with Japan. A win will see them progress to the 13th place final against either Spain or Uruguay. A loss will send them to the 15th place final.
All that separates the USA from a knockout game of rugby on Sunday 12 June for a 10am EST kick-off is a three-hour bus journey from Tbilisi to Kutaisi, some training sessions and some words from their head coach.
“What I told the boys today is that I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished so far, but our journey is not over yet,” Gericke said. “I talked to the player ownership group and said that we needed to find a way to start the game well.
“I think the way to do it is to start winning everything on and off the field. Let’s start our day with positives. Let’s try to win the day so that we can win every single opportunity that we get to do something.
“That is what we need to do for the next two games that we are going to play. We need to win the first few minutes of each game. We have got to take the game into our hands.
“We have gone through something as a team that not a lot of teams have experienced. We are still standing. We showed bravery and relentlessness in the face of adversity.”
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USA v Japan: 13th Place Semi Final
Sunday, July 13th | 10:00 AM ET | Paramount+
USA v ARG (L) 14-78
USA v ENG (L) 40-68
USA v IRE (L) 22-73
