- TONGA vs CANADA
It’s fireworks from the first whistle as the two most physical teams in the tournament go head-to-head. Tonga will be looking to prove that they belong after three years in the wilderness. A strong win here would be a major statement of intent for the Canadians.
TONGA
1 Tevita Sole, 2 Falamani Mafi, 3 Lisivani Tuifua, 4 Tupou Afungia, 5 Aisea Maksini, 6 Asaeli Fanua, 7 Pita Halaifonua (capt.), 8 Lopini Kioa, 9 Siaosi Nai, 10 Filipe Samate, 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Malakai Uasi, 13 Rodney Tongotea, 14 Lisiate Folau, 15 Hateni Tafolo
Replacements: 16 Mesake Toumohuni, 17 Mafi Fifita, 18 Apitoni Toia, 19 Otunuku Pauta, 20 Roy Lolesio, 21 Alan Tukuafu, 22 Tu’atao Savou, 23 Hesitoni Fa, 24 Solomone Fono, 25 Mordecai Pulu, 26 Lote Fakatou
CANADA
1 Josh Tweed, 2 Mike McCarthy, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Frank Carson, 5 Tyler Duguid, 6 Quentin James, 7 Will Matthews, 8 Nick Carson, 9 Will Percillier (capt.), 10 Brock Webster, 11 Jarvis Dashkewytch, 12 Quinn Ngawati, 13 Gabriel Casey, 14 David Richard, 15 Avery Oitomen
Replacements: 16 Jared Augustin, 17 Stefan Zuliani, 18 Guerschom Mukendi, 19 Reid Davis, 20 Thomas Isherwood, 21 Siaki Vikilani, 22 David Carson, 23 Lachlan Kratz, 24 Jack Carson, 25 Mason Flesch, 26 Antoine de la Fontaine
Date: Tuesday, July 9
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 12:00 local (8:00 Pacific, 11:00 Eastern)
Referee: Damián Schneider (UAR)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube
- JAPAN vs BRAZIL
The pre-tournament favorites go up against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. Anything but a dominant win for Japan would be a disappointment. Brazil, on the other hand, having nothing to lose and the home crowd behind them. Surviving until halftime will be vital.
JAPAN
1 Yota Kamimori, 2 Mamoru Harada, 3 Sho Maeda, 4 Shu Yamamoto, 5 Ryusei Koike, 6 Halatoa Vailea, 7 Shota Fukui (capt.), 8 Takamasa Maruo, 9 Kaisei Tamura, 10 Ryuto Fukuyama, 11 Fuuto Yamaguchi, 12 Yuichirou Wada, 13 Tomoki Osada, 14 Moeki Fukushi, 15 Ryosue Kawase
Replacements: 16 Daiki Nishiyama, 17 Gun Tajima, 18 Syohei Tsujimura, 19 Ohgi Yanamoto, 20 Kouki Matsumoto, 21 Akito Okui, 22 Hayato Fukunishi, 23 Ryota Tomoike, 24 Takumi Aoki
BRAZIL
1 Naasson Porto, 2 Leonardo Da Silva, 3 Henrique Ferreira, 4 Samoel Bertan, 5 Filippo Bugno, 6 Guilherme Dias, 7 Rafael Dos Santos, 8 Adrio de Melo (capt.), 9 Felipe Cunha, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Murilo Bonesso, 12 Joel Dos Santos, 13 Gabriel Quirino, 14 Vicent Quirino, 15 Carlos Proença
Replacements: 16 Felipe Araújo, 17 Marcos de Melo, 18 Henrique Da Silva, 19 Gabriel Oliviera, 20 Weslley Barbosa, 21 Matheus de Oliviera, 22 Alisson Ribeiro, 23 Guylherme Farias, 24 Carlos de Souza, 25 João Furst, 26 Gerónimo Olivares
Date: Tuesday, July 9
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 14:00 local (10:00 Pacific, 13:00 Eastern)
Referee: Luke Rogan (USAR)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube
- KENYA vs URUGUAY
Most will consider the South Americans as favorites here, but Kenya are unpredictable and feature both a threatening lineout figure in Emanuel Silungi and a skilled goal kicker in Dominic Coulson. The Teritos will attack in the scrum but also possess a skilled backline that is dangerous on front foot ball.
KENYA
1 Andrew Siminyu, 2 Bonface Ochieng (capt.), 3 Rotuk Rahedi, 4 Emanuel Silungi, 5 Frank Aduda, 6 James McGreevy, 7 Brian Amaitsa, 8 Sheldon Kahi, 9 Samuel Asati, 10 Michele Brighetti, 11 Andrew Matoka, 12 John Okoth, 13 Dominic Coulson, 14 Geoffrey Okwach, 15 Jeff Mutuku
Replacements: 16 Wilfred Waswa, 17 Ian Njenga, 18 Ian Masheti, 19 Collins Obure, 20 Hibrahim Ayoo, 21 Samuel Were, 22 George Kyriazi, 23 Barry Robinson, 24 Owain Ashley, 25 Timothy Okwemba, 26 Douglas Kahuri
URUGUAY
1 Ezequiel Ramos, 2 Juan Martín Rippe, 3 Faustino Etchegorry, 4 Juanjuan Garese (capt.), 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Maxime Sonneveld, 7 Felipe Lombardo, 8 Santiago Nicolich, 9 Alfonso Cat, 10 Matías D’Avanzo, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Alfonso Costa, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Juan Pablo Costabile, 15 José Iruleguy
Replacements: 16 Carlos Gruss, 17 Santiago Bonasso, 18 Ignacio Péculo, 19 Reinaldo Piussi, 20 Juan Manuel Aguiar, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Federico Slinger, 23 Santiago del Cerro, 24 Ignacio Rodríguez, 25 Tomás Pollio
Date: Tuesday, July 9
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 17:00 local (13:00 Pacific, 16:00 Eastern)
Referee: Federico Vedeolli (FIR)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube
- PORTUGAL vs HONG KONG
The Portuguese must prove their quality here. Hong Kong have some dangerous players – Paul Altier a standout – but concede size and strength in the pack. They will be hard-pressed to stay in the match for 80 minutes. Portugal are taking no chances with their lineup naming their full strength side including star attacker Rodrigo Marta.
PORTUGAL
1 David Costa, 2 Frederico Simões, 3 António Cunha, 4 Sebastião Silva, 5 Martim Belo, 6 Manuel Pinto, 7 Helano Alberto, 8 José Roque (capt.), 9 Pedro Lucas, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 11 Francisco Salgado, 12 José Do Carmo, 13 Rodrigo Marta, 14 Raffaele Storti, 15 Simão Bento
Replacements: 16 Márcio Pinheiro, 17 Duarte Conde, 18 Rodrigo Bento, 19 André Gouveia, 20 José Madeira, 21 Manuel Maia, 22 Joaquim Félix, 23 Tomás Lamboglia, 24 João Vieira, 25 José Santos, 26 Francisco Rosa
HONG KONG
1 Nick McGrory, 2 Callum Tam, 3 Rory Cinnamond, 4 James Rivers, 5 Sam Tsoi, 6 Ollie Overman, 7 Joseph Knight, 8 Hugo Darke-Christopher, 9 Henry Poon, 10 Paul Altier (capt.), 11 Tomek Tsang, 12 William Panday, 13 Kyle Kitney, 14 Tiarnan Neville, 15 Lucas Lacamp
Replacements: 16 Cheuk-Wai Ng, 17 Man-Chun Tang, 18 Mikkel Christensen, 19 Wai-Shing Sung, 20 Jonathan Howells, 21 Sam Down, 22 Pat Laidler, 23 Thaddeus Summers, 24 Oliver Duffy, 25 Julian Onderwater, 26 Kyle McCallum
Date: Tuesday, July 9
Venue: Estadio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos
Kickoff: 19:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Referee: Gonzalo Ventoso (UAR)
Broadcasts: Band Sports (Brazil), Facebook, YouTube
