The Ford Australian Under 20s have sent an ominous warning to their opposition after a comprehensive 81-12 victory over Canada in their first Pool match at the iRB Junior World Championship in Wales overnight.

On a cool afternoon in Newport the Australian pack dominated throughout and laid a platform for the slick back-line to pile on the points.
The game was effectively over as a contest in the first quarter with the Aussies running in four converted tries through captain David Pocock, Ben McCalman, Rob Horne and James Hanson.
The Canadians hit back after a good spell on the half hour with a try for centre Matt Evans.

However the Canadian try only prompted Australia to put their collective foot straight back onto the gas and they ran in two more tries through man-of-the-match Ratu Nasiganiyavi and Dane Haylett-Petty before the break for a 45-5 lead at half time.

A number of half-time replacements affected the cohesion of the Australian play for a while yet they opened the second half with two more tries in the first 10 minutes through McCalman and another Nasiganiyavi long range effort before Canadian scrumhalf Sean White responded as he wriggled over from a quick tap penalty.

Despite the number of tackles they had made throughout the game, the Canadians refused to wilt until four late tries – including a double from replacement Junior Sovala completed the job for Australia.

Australian wing Nasiganiyavi caught the eye with his two well taken long tries and generally looked menacing every time he gained possession, while Western Force full back Haylett-Petty weighed in with four tries.

Ford Australian Under 20s coach Brian Melrose was happy with the performance but warned that improvement was needed for more important matches ahead.
“It was a good start and good to come away without any bad injuries as we had a bad week losing a couple of backs,” said Melrose.
 
“It’s good to get off the mark and we’ve got a line in the sand now but we do need to make improvements in some areas.”

In the other Pool C match England defeated Fiji 47-12.

Australia 81 (Dane Haylett-Petty 4, Ratu Nasiganiyavi 2, Junior Sovala 2, Ben McCalman 2, Rob Horne, David Pocock, James Hanson; Quade Cooper 5 cons; Jeremy Sua 3 cons) defeated Canada 12 (Matt Evans, Sean White tries; Nathan Hirayama con) at Rodney Parade, Newport, Wales. Half-time: 45-5 Australia.

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