South Africa and New Zealand won the Under-20 titles

Supported by World Rugby, the Six Nations U20 Summer Series and the Oceania Rugby U20 Championship concluded with victories for South Africa and New Zealand.

South Africa went through the under-20 summer series unbeaten, securing the title with a 47-27 win over Wales in the final, while New Zealand cruised to a big 69-12 victory over their neighbors Australia in the Oceania tournament.

The World Rugby U20 Championship and World Rugby U20 Trophy do not return until 2023 after three editions were canceled due to Covid-19, with both competitions giving the world’s best junior players a much-needed opportunity to shine against international opposition.

Nine teams who regularly play at the World Rugby U20 Championship took part in both tournaments and some of the rugby on display was of a very high standard, suggesting new stars to develop in the future.

Under Otago manager Tom Donnelly, New Zealand won all three of their matches: 74–5 against Fiji, 32–9 against Argentina and a record 69–12 win over Australia, reduced to thirteen men. Thus they completed a successful re-introduction to international youth rugby.

In capturing his fifth Oceania M20 title, several young players caught the eye, including the hard-working Hooker and Crusaders captain George Bell, who scored a hat-trick against Australia.

Argentina finished second after a 61-5 win over Fiji, which was awarded one red card compared to Australia’s two.

Among Los Bumitas’ try scorers was scrum-half Mateo Albanese, son of former Pumas wing and RWC 1999 hero Diego Albanese.

Final stages
1. New Zealand
2. Argentina
3. Australia
4. BG

Results
Date 1: New Zealand 74-5 PG; Australia 21-24 Argentina
Date 2: New Zealand 32-9 Argentina; Australia 58-5 PG
Round 3: PG 5-61 Argentina; Australia 12-69 New Zealand

Junior Springboks are undefeated
Eight teams traveled to Northern Italy to take part in the Six Nations U20 Summer Series, where the Junior Springboks went undefeated.

Wins over unbeaten U20 Six Nations champions England (30-22) Ireland (33-24) and reigning World Rugby U20 Championship champions France (42-27) put South Africa top of Group A and a place in the final against Wales.

After opening their campaign with a 45-15 win over Scotland, Wales beat Georgia 30-24 and Italy 23-20.

Italy overcame the disappointment of not making it to the finals and bounced back with a 38-31 win over England in the bronze medal match.

It was Italy’s second U20 win against England this year, their only two in this category.

Georgia also left the tournament with a lot of debt. Coming close to shocking Wales, they beat Scotland in the third round, coming from 12-0 down to win 55-17.

However, Junior Lelos had to settle for sixth place in the table, losing 44-17 to France in the final.

Meanwhile, Ireland saved themselves the humiliation of moving down the table away from the Grand Slam winners with a 41-24 win over Scotland in their last game.

In the final where the undefeated duo played, he quickly showed who was going to be the winner.

A hat-trick from Tian Long, two tries from Sulaiman Hartzenberg and tries from Louv Nel and Ethan James rounded off a very successful few weeks in Italy to give the tidy Junior Boks a comfortable victory in Treviso.

Trailing 26-3, Wales bounced back in the second half, scoring tries from Mason Grady, Joe Westwood, Ethan Fackrell and Cameron Jones, but the night belonged to the Junior Boks.

Final Stages:
1. South Africa
2. Wales
3. Italy
4. England
5. France
6. Georgia
7. Ireland
8. Scotland

Results
Date 1
England 22-30 South Africa
France 42-21 Ireland
Scotland 15-45 Wales
Italy 36-19 Georgia

Date 2
France 20-29 England
Ireland 24-33 South Africa
Wales 30-24 Georgia 24
Scotland 14-34 Italy

Date 3
France 27-42 South Africa
Ireland 37-36 England
Scotland 17-55 Georgia
Wales 23-20 Italy

Finals
Ireland 41-24 Scotland
France 44-17 Georgia
England 31-38 Italy
South Africa 47-27 Wales

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