This Friday at 12:00 (Spanish peninsular time) the Spanish Rugby Team XV U20 will face Fiji in the match that will decide which of the two teams will leave the top flight at the World Cup next season. Before the crucial clash we spoke with the National Coach, Ricardo Martinena, and the captain, Manex Ariceta. The match can be seen live for free on RugbyPass TV
“First of all, this match is a final,” Martinena begins, “And in finals, details are very important, every single one counts. Fiji is a very anarchic team, with players who speed up a lot, who are very dangerous in 1v1 and who live off anarchy. Our scenario has to be the exact opposite. Stop all their weapons and build our game from there based on the static phases. This week we have been preparing for the match thoroughly, even though we have not accumulated much high-intensity training on the field because we have focused a lot on the players recovering from all the load they carry on their shoulders.”
“We have improved our approach to the field, we have consolidated our defence,” Ricardo continues about the points that have improved since the start of the World Cup.“Italy only managed to score points from the scrum, where we were unable to overcome them. We come into this match in very good form, and the objective is obviously to stay up. The plan from the start was to go into the fourth and fifth match in the best possible condition, and I think we have achieved that. We are going into it in pretty good shape, with some players more injured than others, but we are going into it with everything. Now we have to play the match and see if we can achieve the final objective, what we came for, which is another year fighting with the big teams.”
“Our approach to this match will depend on the rain, but if the weather permits and allows us to play, we will try to move the ball to our hands much more than kicking, because we need to play more with the ball in our hands than giving it to them, who are experts in chaos. We have been moving all the pieces so that all the players are protagonists and except for the absence of Guido Reyes, who has a shoulder injury, the rest are all very well.”
“As a staff,” the coach continued, “we have worked very hard.” “Between matches there is a lot of invisible work that is not seen, with video analysis, recovery, different approaches… From this experience we know that we are not so far from Tier 1, but that on a physical level we are still far from any of the other 11 in this tournament. In that scenario we have to evolve. From the age of 18 we have to make a paradigm shift, because at rugby level they can reach and compete against anyone, as we have seen, but a significant physical advantage is needed. I think the Federation has taken note to implement a path so that in 3 years they can come with other guarantees. Apart from that, we are very happy. It is being a very enriching experience for all of us who are living it from within and those who are watching it from outside. There are many young players who see themselves competing here in the future, and who are going to work from the base, from the clubs to achieve it. Being in an U20 World Cup is a real possibility and it opens up a lot of ground for us with the youth team and the Lions of the future.”
For Manex Ariceta, “the experience is being a 10. “Playing your first World Cup, who knows if it’s the only one of your life. Being with such a big group, facing the best is amazing.” “And I also think we’ve built a very good group.” “The only thing we players think about is that it’s the last game,” says the captain. “The last final, so whether you have the strength or not, you have to get it from wherever you can. It is the last one and you have to go out and win it. You have to give it your all. Fiji is a team that lives off chaos. If we play a surgical match, I think we can get through it and we can win.”
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