U-19 World Championship weekend begins with Japan v. Australia
Japan’s U-19 national team begins their 2016 IFAF U-19 World Championship tourney on Saturday morning against the Junior Outback Gridiron team from Australia.
The Aussie’s impressed the crowds in Harbin, China in World Championship opener with a 72-0 victory over China. Among many stars on the day, RB James Thornhill shined the brightest with 3 TDs on the day and was awarded game MVP.
As per the Team Australia Facebook page the team has practiced twice and reviewed film from the first game.
“We’ll use today to focus on Japan tomorrow- they are one of the worlds top gridiron nations, so we should be expecting a very tough opponent.”
The Aussie’s aren’t wrong. Outside the United States, Japan has one of the strongest collegiate systems in the world. The Japanese typically finish near the top in international competition along with contemporaries Canada and Mexico.
Japan’s program director Yazaki Takao told Japanese reporters the “First match is important.”
“Our real intention is, we want to win without showing the hands towards the Americans. After that it does not have any injuries. You want to win safely but their is no ideal. It is important that this team, gets the sense of returning to the game, and to have the enthusiasm for the game, and then to get to the next game.”
The Japanese are heavily favored but expect the scrappy Aussies to put up a fight.
Watch Japan and Australia live below. Kickoff is Saturday morning, July 2nd at 3p (15:00) local, 7a (7:00) CET, and 1a EST.
