New Zealand U20 and the Junior Springboks remain unbeaten after the pool stages, and despite a round three loss, the Pumitas qualified for the semi-finals as the best-placed pool runner-up. Australia narrowly lost to England, which prevented them from progressing. South Africa will play Argentina in an all SANZAAR semi-final, while New Zealand will play France.
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The Junior Springboks recorded their third straight bonus-point victory in the pool phase of the World Rugby U20 Championship as they beat Scotland by 73-14 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Calvisano to seal top spot in their group in Italy.
The South Africans also beat Australia (73-17) and England (32-22) to book their spot in the semi-finals, and on Wednesday they probably did enough to secure the top-seed position for the playoffs, which are scheduled to take place next Monday.
Playing with purpose and showcasing their silky skills, the first half belonged to the Junior Boks, who scored at more than a point per minute as they crossed the Scottish tryline seven times.
Jaco Williams (left wing) scored after four minutes when he launched a counter-attack from inside his own 22. Six minutes later captain and flanker Thando Biyela was driven over, with Dominic Malgas (centre) adding the third in the 13th minute after a sniping break and great run from the back of a great scrum by Ceano Everson (scrumhalf).
The bonus point try was in the bag in the 16th minute when Williams scored his second try from a lineout move and Oliver Reid (prop) added his name to the score sheet five minutes later from a maul.
Scotland pulled ne back through Seb Stephen (hooker), but fullback Gilermo Mentoe's try in the 31ste minute, followed by Jean Erasmus (prop) crashing over four minutes later, pushed the Junior Boks past 40 points in the half.
It could have been 50 had Reid not dropped the ball on the tryline from a 30m rolling maul on the stroke of half-time, and from the restart after the break, Williams came within centimetres of grabbing his hat-trick as he just stepped on the dead-ball line as he dotted down.
In the next few minutes, Cheswill Jooste (wing) and Jaco Grobbelaar (lock) were held up over the line as the South Africans kept hammering away as Kevin Foote (head coach) brought on the replacements.
The Junior Boks lost a bit of momentum as Scotland stepped up their game, but the men in green and gold were probably also guilty of becoming a bit too loose as they tried to stretch their lead.
They finally scored again on the hour mark as Everson stepped his way through the Scottish defence, and four minutes later Stephanus Linde (No 8) rounded off a brilliant team try that started from a counter-attack in their own 22, with the handling simply brilliant.
Everson scored his brace in the 71st minute to push the Junior Boks past 60 points as they grew in confidence, but Oliver Finlayson-Russell (replacement prop) grabbed a second for the Scots as they refused to give up.
However, Haashim Pead (replacement scrumhalf) scored his fifth try of the competition at the death, from a move that started with a scrum in their own half, to push the Junior Boks past 70 for the second time in Italy.
Junior Springboks 73 (45) [Tries: Jaco Williams (2), Thando Biyela, Dominic Malgas, Oliver Reid, Gilermo Mentoe, Jean Erasmus, Ceano Everson (2), Stephanus Linde, Haashim Pead. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (4), Ian van der Merwe (5) Scotland 14 (7) [Tries: Seb Stephen, Oliver Finlayson-Russell. Conversions: Matthew Urwin, Jack Brown].
New Zealand U20 has stormed into the Semi-Final of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship, dismantling Ireland 69-22 in Calvisano. Despite a rocky start, New Zealand produced its most accomplished display of 2025.
Ireland initially rocked New Zealand by scoring two tries within the first ten minutes. First five-eighth Tom Wood stabbed the ball forward for Oisin Minogue to chase. Minogue put the ball to the toe again and collected the perfect bounce. Then the openside flanker charged through a gap near a lineout at the ten-metre mark in his own half. After a 40-metre surge, quick recycling of the ball, and rapid distribution, New Zealand found themselves cooked, allowing Daniel Green to score unopposed.
A mistake from the restart invited New Zealand back into the contest. Heavy forward momentum had Ireland backpedalling, enabling Mosese Bason to power over for a try. New Zealand conceded seven of the first eight penalties, resulting in lock Jayden Sa being sin-binned for persistent infringements. Wood successfully converted a straightforward penalty, giving Ireland a 15-7 lead.
A kickoff by Will Cole was allowed to bounce by Ireland and was seized by Jake Wiseman. New Zealand quickly organised itself into shape, and lock Xavier Tracey charged over for a try.
Irish No. 8 Luke Murphy proved to be a handful, but when he was held up on the try line by second five-eighth Jack Wiseman, it signalled a turning point in the match. After the dropout, Bason made a steal, and a long clearance by Will Cole was met poorly by Ireland. A determined surge from Finn McLeod led to a close-range try by Cooper Roberts, made possible by a clever offload that the centre delivered earlier.
Speaking of offloads, a brilliant pass from Maloni Kunawave set up a try for Cole following sensational handling in a sustained 60-meter attack. Ireland was reeling. Halfback Dylan Pledger dashed through the middle of an Irish ruck for New Zealand’s fifth try. Shortly after, Irish halfback Will Wootton received a yellow card for a cynical foul after Caleb Woodley had breached the emerald wall.
New Zealand extinguished any hopes of an Irish comeback shortly after the interval, scoring three tries within ten minutes. Rico Simpson made a sneaky offload to Frank Vaenuku, who barreled through two defenders. Roberts then broke free for a 50-metre run from the restart, and despite a long bounce pass to Kunawave that almost derailed the play, quick hands from the winger set Pledger free for another try.
New Zealand's forwards were finally rewarded for their toil when replacement hooker Shaun Kempston drove over from a rolling maul. With the score at 50, New Zealand relaxed until the 75th minute, when Billy Bohan received a red card. Another lineout drive led to a second try for Kempston, and Kunawave applied the icing on the cake with a try following a freighting rush from replacement flanker Aisake Vakasiuola.
Vaenuku and Kunawave combined for an astonishing 238 metres gained, beating 14 defenders and making five line breaks. New Zealand delivered 13 offloads to Ireland’s four, while the Irish missed 35 tackles compared to New Zealand’s 12. Tracey (13 tackles) and Woodley (10 tackles) were the backbone of New Zealand’s defence.
Historically, New Zealand has won nine of their ten encounters with Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship. Their largest victory over Ireland was a 69-3 victory in Georgia in 2017, when New Zealand scored 11 tries, with future All Blacks contributing to seven of them: Will Jordan (3), Caleb Clarke (3), and Braydon Ennor.
New Zealand has won 17 of their last 19 pool stage games and boasts a 58-14 overall record in the tournament, compared to Ireland’s 34 wins in 72 matches.
New Zealand Under 69 (Mosese Bason, Xavier Tracey, Cooper Roberts, Will Cole, Dylan Pledger 2. Frank Vaenuku, Shaun Kempston 2, Maloni Kunawave 2 tries; Will Cole 6 cons, Rico Simpson con) Ireland Under 22 (Oisin Minogue, Daniel Green, Billy Bohan tries; Tom Wood con, pen) HT: 31-15.
France booked their place in the semi-finals within 15 minutes of kick-off with four quickfire tries against Argentina giving them the bonus point they needed and leaving Argentina – who also just needed a single bonus point – with a mountain to climb.
But climb it they did, despite losing by 26 points. “After the opening 15 minutes, the only achievement was to qualify for the semi-finals,” said captain Felipe Ledesma. To do this, they would need to score four tries.
When Pedro Coll rumbled over on 53 minutes to score Los Pumitas’ third try after a period of sustained pressure, it looked they would get there comfortably. But the lineout started malfunctioning and France kept attacking – as well as defending with their lives.
Argentina were held up over Les Bleuets’ line before replacement hooker Jerónimo Otano crashed over from a driving lineout to seal a semi-final tie against South Africa and send England out. France will play New Zealand in the other semi-final.
France 52 [Tries: Jabea Njocke, Donguy, Akrab, Leveque, Ibsaiene 2, Gourgues, Baret; Cons: Keletaona 6] Argentina 26 [Tries: Ledesma, Rapetti, Coll, Otano; Cons: Senillosa 3].
Australia U20 have missed out on a semi-final berth after suffering an agonising 36-33 defeat to defending champions England at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.
In a match where referee Jeremy Rozier blew 27 penalties, England U20 earned the one that counted most, as flyhalf Benjamin Coen slotted an 80th minute penalty goal to win the game for his side.
For their part, Australia U20 displayed immense character to come from 19 points behind in the second half and level the score at 33-all with five minutes left to play.
The result now means the Australians will compete for the 5th-8th finishing positions in their final two games of the tournament, facing Italy on July 15.
England U20 got the scoring started in the 12th minute as scrumhalf Archie McParland found a gap next to the ruck and set up flanker Connor Treacey for the try.
The Australians hit back almost immediately as centre Malakye Enasio broke clear and spun the ball wide for winger Nicholas Conway to touch down in the corner.
Despite then enjoying a period of territorial dominance, Australia U20 failed to convert the field position into points, and England U20 captain Kepueli Tuipulotu struck with two tries before half-time.
The hooker had his first after gathering a fumbled Australian lineout and then powered over beside the posts to help give England U20 a 19-7 lead at the break.
Tuipolotu had his hat-trick four minutes in the second half, scoring once again from close range, after back-to-back penalties against Australia U20.
Australia U20 then suffered a further setback as scrumhalf James Martens received a yellow card for repeated infringements.
Against the run of play, and with Martens on the sideline, Conway snaffled an intercept and raced 90 metres to score his second and make the score 26-14.
Cooper Watters appeared to have closed the gap even further in the 56th minute but the TMO ruled the Australia U20 winger was in touch before grounding the ball.
Instead it was England U20 who re-established their advantage as Jack Bracken strolled over in the 62nd minute to make the score 33-14.
From there, the Australians mounted their comeback effort with three tries in a thrilling ten-minute period.
It started with fullback Sid Harvey swooping on a loose pass to wrong foot the defence and set up Hwi Sharples.
Prop Trevor King then crashed over after some smart footwork from Enasio in the lead-up put the defence on the back foot.
Australia U20 thought they had scored the levelling try with 7 minutes left to play but the TMO intervened to reverse the decision.
Undeterred, they plunged over again two minutes later as Martens, now playing on the wing, finished off a slick movement to the left edge.
Joey Fowler's attempted conversion slid across the face of the posts so the scores remained level.
After failing to take the restart cleanly, Australia U20 suddenly found themselves defending their own line, and opened the door for Coen to win the game for England U20.
The World Rugby U20 Championship continues until Sunday 20 July, with every match broadcast live and on demand on Stan Sport.
Australia 33 (Conway 2, Sharples, King, Martens tries; Fowler 4 cons) England 36 (Tuipulotu 3, Treacey, Bracken tries; Coen 4 cons, pen)
