The Under 20 Championship enters its business end this Sunday with the first set of play-off fixtures.
There are some intriguing matches all over the board but the ones that will undoubtedly receive the most focus are the semi-final clashes between hosts South Africa and Ireland and European giants England and France.
Darry Worthington previews all of the six knock-out fixtures, below.
Italy 1/7 | Draw 33/1 | Fiji 9/2 (14:00)
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We kick things off with a clash between the winless Fijians and an Italian side who must be wondering what they did wrong to end up playing for the lower places in the competition having beaten South Africa in Round 2 of the pool phase.
The Junior Azzurri gave a decent account of themselves during the pool phase beating South Africa 26-34 while suffering a 17-30 defeat at the hands of a very good Georgian outfit and an opening day 43-15 loss to Argentina. While they did produce a mixed-bag in the pool phase, they are a solid team with good structures.
Unlike Italy, the Fijians didn’t have any high points in the pol phase as they lost all of their games going down 46-37 to Australia in Round 1, 53-7 to England in Round 2 and 47-27 to Ireland in Round 3. While they have produced some magical moments in open play, their set piece has been shocking and if they don’t clean up their act at scrum and lineout time, they will struggle against Italy.
Verdict: Italy (-)
The Italians have a very strong set piece which is likely to cause Fiji all sorts of problems this Sunday. Wait for the handicap betting to come out before climbing on.
New Zealand 4/10 | Draw 22/1 | Australia 2/1
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Trans-Tasman rivalries will be renewed at the Athlone Stadium with Australia taking on New Zealand in Sunday’s second fixture. Both sides will be gutted that they missed out on qualification for the semi-finals, especially the Australians who almost pulled off a famous win over England in their final pool phase game.
The Junior Wallabies had a decent time of it in the pool phase beating Fiji by nine points before going down 10-30 to Ireland in a game they led at half-time. They were given it all to do in the final fixture of the pool phase and almost pulled off an upset as they drew 22-22 with England.
They had chances to win the game with the conversion for a late try going astray at a windy Athlone Stadium and then a solid counterattack in the dying seconds coming to nought due to some poor option taking.
New Zealand were far less impressive during the pool phase as they narrowly beat Wales 26-27 in their opener and then went down 35-14 to tournament favourites France. And while they did finish their pool phase campaign off with a comfortable 62-19 win over Japan, they did have some rather poor moments against the Young Brave Blossoms.
Verdict: Australia
The two sides met before the tournament kicked off with their two-match series ending in a 1-1 draw. I reckon the Australians will have made it two wns in three starts against their arch-rivals when the final whistle goes at the Athlone Stadium on Sunday.
Verdict: Australia 2/1
The two sides met before the tournament kicked off with their two-match series ending in a 1-1 draw. I reckon the Australians will have made it two wins in three starts against their arch-rivals when the final whistle goes at the Athlone Stadium on Sunday.
Argentina 1/14 | Draw 22/1 | Japan 2/1 (16:30)
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The Argentines had a poor pool phase campaign suffering defeats at the hands of South Africa (24-16) and Georgia (20-0) they actually looked like they would win their game against the South Africans and held the lead for most of the fixture only for the South Africans to overturn their lead in the final ten minutes. Their solitary win in the pool phase was their opening day 43-14 victory over Italy.
While Argentina at least managed a win in the pool phase, the Japanese did no such thing with the Brave Blossoms hammered in every fixture they played going down 75-12 to France, 41-19 to Wales and 62-19 to New Zealand. They have managed to get into double figures in each of their games which will offer encouragement to the lowest-ranked side in the comp.
Verdict: Argentina (-)
This is a mismatch and the only result I can see is a huge win for the South Americans.
Georgia 9/20 | Draw 20/1 | Wales 18/10 (19:00)
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Our penultimate game for Sunday will see the luckless Georgians take on a plucky Wales outfit in Paarl.
The Eastern Europeans will feel robbed as despite having a better points differential than the South Africans, they missed out on a first semi-finals appearance due to their head-to-head result with the tournament hosts.
Nevertheless, the Baby Lelos can be proud of their pool phase campaign as they ran South Africa close in the opener going down by just ten points and then blanked Argentina running out 20-0 victors before closing their pool phase with a 17-30 win over Italy.
Wales gave a decent account of themselves in the pool phase especially when you consider they finished the Junior Six Nations at the foot of the table. The Young Dragons ran the Kiwis close in Round 1 going down by just a point and then beat Japan 41-19. They were unable to finish their pool phase on a high note, however, as they went down 43-19 to a slightly weakened French outfit.
Verdict: Georgia (-)
This Georgian outfit has been mightily impressive so far and I can see them getting a big win over the Welsh.
France 2/9 | Draw 35/1 | England 33/10
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Les Blues will take on arch-rivals England in the last of the semi-final clashes. The French Juniors have enjoyed an excellent campaign and have been far and away the standout team in the competition while England just scraped into the semi-finals as the best-placed runners-up in the pools.
The French produced the goods in the pool phase and made it look like men against boys at times – I’m looking at Pasolo Tuilagi – as they hammered Japan 75-12, New Zealand 35-12 and Wales 43-19. They are a solid side who are going to give England all sorts of problems.
Speaking of the draw specialists, England managed to just get into the semi-finals with a 34-34 draw with Ireland a 22-22 draw with Australia and a 53-7 win over the Fijians seeing them to the semi-finals. While they are a solid side, they are their own worst enemies at times with handling errors and ill-discipline costing them n the pool phase.
Verdict: France (-)
This French side is a cut above and I can’t see them having any trouble claiming a big win over the English here.
Sunday 9 July 2023
South Africa 24/10 | Draw 22/1 | Ireland 3/10
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The first of the semi-finals pits underperforming hosts South Africa against reigning Under 20 Six Nations Champions Ireland.
The host nation are exceedingly lucky to have actually booked a semi-final as their pool peers Georgia had a better points differential than them but the head-to-head result between the two side saw South Africa advance to the next round of the tournament.
The Baby Boks’ pool campaign was pretty dire as they opened up with a narrow 33-23 win over Georgia and then went down 26-34 to Italy in appalling conditions. They were given a tough time of it by Argentina in the final pool phase game but showed good spirit to come away with a vital 24-16 win courtesy of two late tries.
Ireland were far more assured during their pool phase campaign and ended up topping their pool with two wins and a draw from three starts. They opened their campaign with a 24-24 draw with rivals England and followed that up with a 10-30 win over Australia and closed the pool phase with a 47-27 win over Fiji.
Verdict: South Africa (+)
Ireland are by far the better team here but I can see the South Africans causing them problems especially with no rain being forecast for the time this game is being played.
