France and Ireland will contest the World Rugby U20s Championship Final after beating England and South Africa in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Japan and Italy will face off in the relegation play-off, with the loser being relegated to next year’s U20 Trophy.
Click here for teams and scorers
France dominated the second half in the day’s last match to book their spot in the final.
The defending World Rugby U20s champions scored five second-half tries to England one as they claimed a 52-31 victory.
Sam Harris, Alex Wills, Chandler Cunningham-South, and Cassius Cleaves all scored for England in the ten-try thriller.
Mathis Ferte, Paul Cotes, Lenni Nouchi, Marko Gazzotti, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Reus all scored for France as they bid to defend their title against Ireland on Friday.
England raced into a 17-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes, with Louie Johnson opening the scoring with a penalty before tries from Harris and Wills – Johnson added the conversions on both scores.
The opening try was particularly brilliant as England launched an attack from inside their own half. Winger Tobias Elliott and centre Joe Jenkins superbly kept the ball in play before captain Lewis Chessum sprinted into the 22 and put Harris into space to finish off the team try.
France regrouped after England’s rapid start and hit back with back-to-back tries of their own to make it a three-point game. Fullback Ferte rounded off France’s first before a peach of a pass from the outstanding scrumhalf Baptiste Jauneau gave centre Cotes a clear run through the defence.
England would have the final say of the first half and went into the break leading 24-14 as Chandler Cunningham-South crossed the try line and Johnson converted from the tee.
Second half blitz
England went down a player when Finn Carnduff was yellow carded, and France were awarded a penalty try just six minutes into the second half.
That proved to be a turning point in the fixture as Nouchi, Gazotti, Jegou, and Hugo Reus scored for France to go into a 49-24 lead.
Cleaves scored an incredible solo try for England, but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things. France looked to have scored the game’s final try, but Jegou was denied a brace due to a foot in touch in the build-up to the try.
Hugo Reus did sink one last kick nailing a penalty with time up on the clock to send France into the final.
A match that had @FranceRugby are into the #WorldRugbyU20s final…again 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/V3Pgd9SbGi
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 9, 2023
Ireland defeat hosts South Africa
Ireland booked their place in the final, defeating South Africa 31-12 at Athlone Sports Stadium.
Winger James Nicholson scored twice for the U20 Six Nations Grand Slam winners, with further scores from back row Brian Gleeson and replacement centre Sam Berman seeing them to victory.
Imad Khan and Coetzee le Roux grabbed consolation scores for the hosts, who will now face England in the Bronze final.
The Junior Springboks dominated the early knockings but failed to make their mark on the scoreboard, and Ireland capitalised when back-row Jannes Potgieter, on as an injury replacement for Ghudian van Reenan, was yellow-carded for dangerous play.
On a penalty advantage inside South Africa’s 22, Ireland flyhalf Sam Prendergast nudged a pinpoint crosskick to Nicholson to score the first try. The visitors went into the break with a 7-0 lead.
South Africa started the second half brightly as Imad Khan scored under the posts after a Reagan Izaks’ line break to tee up his scrumhalf.
On. The. Board. 🇿🇦@JuniorBoks are right back in this one thanks to Imad Khan!#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/uvlcerewvG
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 9, 2023
However, Ireland were quick to respond as Gleeson charged through multiple tackle attempts to steam over the line and restore a seven-point advantage.
Nicholson would score his second on the hour mark, and it followed a similar script to his first try as Prendergast again found his winger in space near the try line.
Berman broke through the South African defence to score Ireland’s fourth, putting the game well beyond doubt.
Prendergast added a penalty to stretch Ireland’s advantage further, and with just five minutes left on the clock, the South Africans would have the final say.
Le Roux crashed over from short-range for the final, consolatory score.
Australia defeat New Zealand
Australia came out on top in a 12-try 35-44 Trans-Tasman thriller in Athlone.
New Zealand played most of the match with 14 men after Tom Allen’s initial yellow card in the 13th minute was upgraded to a red by the TMO bunker.
Matters were made worse for the New Zealanders throughout the match, with flanker Malachi Wrampling and Xavi Taele visiting the sin bin during the 80 minutes.
Hooker Max Craig and Tim Ryan scored braces in the encounter, with Henry O’Donnell, Ronan Leahy and captain Teddy Wilson also crossing the whitewash.
We’ve got a real classic on our hands!
Ronan Leahy goes over as the tries keep racking up…#WorldRugbyU20s | @wallabies pic.twitter.com/i9v9rLJfKG
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 9, 2023
Caleb Tangitau, Malachi Wrampling, Macca Springer and Jack Taylor all scored for the New Zealanders, with Harry McLaughlin-Phillips adding nine points from the tee.
New Zealand did lead by 12 points at one stage, but Ryan’s brace and Leahy’s score in the second half swung momentum in Australia’s favour.
Wilson put the game to bed with his breakaway try with minutes left on the clock to seal the result.
Wales set up 5th place play-off clash with Australia
Wales defeat Georgia 21-40 to book their place in the fifth-place semi-final.
Georgia took an early 6-0 lead thanks to two Petre Khutsishvili penalties, but they went into the break trailing Wales 6-7.
Tornike Kakhoidze was shown a yellow card four minutes before the break, and Wales pounced immediately as hooker Lewis Lloyd crashed over from a driving maul.
Wales came out firing after the break as Louie Hennessey ripped through the defence to cross the whitewash, with the subsequent conversion from Daniel Edwards pushing his side into a 6-14 lead.
Wales power over! 💪
Defence has been on top so far this game but the first try is scored just before half-time#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/yiNKW5kU6S
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 9, 2023
Georgia’s response was swift as replacement loosehead prop Giorgi Mamaiashvili scored off the back of a powerful maul.
Two misplaced passes from Junior Lelos led to tries for Hennessey and Harri Houston as Wales took control of the match.
Hennessey was yellow carded with 15 minutes left to play, and Georgia made the most of the one-man advantage to score through Tamaz Tchamiashvili. However, Lucas De La Rua’s score cancelled out Tchamiashvili’s try.
Kakhoidze and Joe Westwood grabbed late tries for each side, with the latter sealing the victory for Wales.
Fiji down Italy, Argentina defeat Japan
Fiji and Argentina will face off in the ninth-place final, while Italy and Japan will battle it out to avoid the wooden spoon.
The Fijians scored five tries to Italy’s four to claim a 26-41 victory, with influential Fijian flyhalf Isaiah Ravula scoring 16 points from the tee.
80 metres and counting 😱 @JRFURugby are back in the game#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/XIybzgEuJg
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 9, 2023
As for Argentina, they went behind early against Japan but replied in emphatic fashion, scoring three tries before halftime to lead 24-7 at the break.
Just started the second half superbly, scoring a try and adding a penalty to make it a four-point game, but Argentina wrestled back the momentum and scored three unanswered tries before the final whistle to claim the win.
Italy and Japan will now face off in the relegation play-off on Friday, with the loser being relegated to next year’s U20 Trophy.
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