The USA Men’s U20s squad has been set to travel to Georgia to kick off their 2026 Junior World Championship campaign.
The World Rugby Junior World Championship (JWC) takes place every 4 years comprising the top 16 teams qualified. Having last featured in 2013, the USA will begin their campaign on June 27th in Tbilisi's Avchala Stadium in Pool C against Argentina, followed by England and Ireland. The JWC 2026 will span across five weekends with the final to be played on July 18th at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi.
After a series of competitive selection camps, Head Coach Johannes "Neets" Gericke and staff have narrowed down the list to 30 players who will travel overseas.
The squad travel to Georgia for a training block where they will play a pre-tournament warm-up match against the host country as they dial in final preparations for their opening pool game.
“We are preparing as best we can with few opportunities to compete against other countries before the tournament. All three of those teams have played in U20s competitions this year. We have spent a few weeks together. Now, we are going to Georgia early to play a warm-up match, which will provide us with much needed information.
“We have goals for each match: to control what we are in control of. We want to execute our basics & process, and accumulate small wins.” commented Coach Neets on the team’s progress and his excitement for this squad to take the global stage;
“We have players who really want to be here, who have really invested to be part of this team; therefore, we have the right players for the job. I want to see them face giant rugby nations without hesitation, regrets and with a lot of pride and bravery.”
“This is a massive opportunity to show the global rugby community how far we have come. In 2023 we qualified for the Junior World Trophy (2nd division) and finished 7th out of 8 teams, ranking us 19th overall at the U20s level. In 2024 we lost in the final against the host nation Scotland, which ranked us 14th at the U20s level. We missed out last year with the JWT canceled, but now we are in the Junior World Championship and the boys are excited.”
Fans can catch all the action on Paramount+ and follow along on social media via USA Rugby’s dedicated Junior National Team account @usarjnt on Instagram.
Supporters can back the USA Junior World Cup squad to help support these players as they represent the United States on the world stage via the link: https://app.verticalraise.com/fundraiser/usa-rugby-u20-2026-fundraiser/sms/0/?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_term=
| Name | School / Club |
|---|---|
| Lyndon Bailey | Western Washington University |
| Alfie Booth | Mount St Mary’s University |
| Harrison Cluff | UCLA |
| Colin Donnelly | St. Mary's College |
| Yiannis Efthymiopoulos | Biella Rugby Club (ITA) |
| Frank Finicle | Loyola University of New Orleans |
| Liam Hill | UCLA |
| Salesi Moui-Helotu Kafovalu | Life West Rugby Club |
| Pierce Kelly | Belmont Shore |
| Oliver Kirk | Cal Berkeley |
| Papaseea Matelau | Kurita Watergush (JPN) |
| Quan Nguyen | OMBAC |
| Aidan Stewart | Life University |
| Kitiona Talaepa | Petone Rugby Club (NZ) |
| Sawyer Troupe | Life University |
| Tyler Trower | Hartpury University (UK) |
| Jayden Williams | Ohio State University |
| Name | School / Club |
|---|---|
| Jameson Beatty | Life University |
| Declan Cadden | Loughborough University (UK) |
| William Darbishire | University of Nottingham (UK) |
| Jack Firebrace | Gordon's School (UK) |
| Gavin Holder | Junior Crusaders (NZ) |
| Spencer Huntley | Hartpury University (UK) |
| Leo Keesler-Venables | Life University |
| Marco Lapierre | Brown University |
| Finnian Love | Cornish Pirates (UK) |
| Blake Miller | Maroochydore Swans (AUS) |
| Dane Mitchell | Sydney University (AUS) |
| Sialefuhia Ofa | St. Mary's College |
| Joseph Sarkees | Penn State University |
All 3 matches played at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi
USA v Argentina: Saturday June 27th | 5:00am ET
USA V England: Thursday July 2nd | 10:00am ET
USA v Ireland: Tuesday July 7th | 5:00am ET
Head Coach | Johannes “Neets” Gericke
Assistant Coach (Backs and Attack) | Elvis Seaveli'i
Assistant Coach (Defence) | Marcel Brache
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Lucas Baistrocchi
Team Operations Manager (TM) | Darran "Dazza" Coleman
Analyst | Seth Heldman
Athletic Trainer | Maryjane "Janie" Klumpers
Team Doctor | Katherine “Katie” Boehm
Team Doctor | John "Brannan" Smoot
