World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa 29 June-19 July

England squad announced today:

Forwards
Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, Newton Abbot RFC, 5 caps)
Finn Carnduff (Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 15 caps)
Harvey Cuckson (Bath Rugby, Mold RFC, 2 caps)
Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby, Bishop Wand School, 11 caps)
Arthur Green (Bath Rugby, Frome RFC, uncapped)
James Halliwell (Bristol Bears, Thornbury RFC, 10 caps)
James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 3 caps)
Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 4 caps)
Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 4 caps)
Nathan Michelow (Saracens, Brentwood Rugby, 10 caps)
Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, Paul Roos, uncapped)
Jacob Oliver (Newcastle Falcons, Barnard Castle Rugby Club, 5 caps)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 14 caps)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 5 caps)
Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 6 caps)
Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 4 caps)
Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, Braintree Rugby Club, 5 caps)

Backs
Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, Hungerford RFC, uncapped)
Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 4 caps)
Jack Bracken (Saracens, Barnet Elizabethans RFC, uncapped)
Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, uncapped)
Toby Cousins (Northampton Saints, Bugbrooke RFC, 6 caps)
Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, uncapped)
Angus Hall (Saracens, Sevenoaks Rugby Club, uncapped)
Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 4 caps)
Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club, 4 caps)
Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 5 caps)
Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 5 caps)
Ben Waghorn (Harlequins, Chipstead Rugby Club, 7 caps)
Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Droitwich Rugby Club, 7 caps)

https://www.englandrugby.com/news/article/mapletoft-confirms-squad-for-world-rugby-u20-championship-2024

Wales already announced:

Forwards
Jordan Morris (Dragons)
Josh Morse (Scarlets)
Ioan Emanuel (Bath Rugby)
Harry Thomas (Scarlets)
Isaac Young (Scarlets)
Will Austin (Sale Sharks)
Kian Hire (Ospreys)
Sam Scott (Bristol)
Jonny Green (Harlequins)
Nick Thomas (Dragons RFC)
Osian Thomas (Leicester Tigers)
Ryan Woodman (Dragons RFC – Capt)
Lucas de la Rua (Cardiff Rugby)
Harry Beddall (Leicester Tigers)
Morgan Morse (Ospreys)
Owen Conquer (Dragons RFC)

Backs
Ieuan Davies (Bath Rugby)
Rhodri Lewis (Opsreys)
Lucca Setaro (Scarlets)
Harri Wilde (Cardiff Rugby)
Harri Ford (Dragons RFC)
Macs Page (Scarlets)
Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff Rugby)
Louie Hennessey (Bath Rugby)
Elijah Evans (Cardiff Rugby)
Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Rugby)
Harry Rees-Weldon (Dragons RFC)
Kodie Stone (Cardiff RFC)
Huw Anderson (Dragons RFC)
Matty Young (Cardiff Rugby)

https://www.wru.wales/2024/06/wales-name-u20-world-championship-squad/

England team announced for the first match against Argentina.

Free to air on rugbypass I believe

ENGLAND UNDER-20S TEAM

15 Ben Redshaw (Newcastle Falcons, West Park Leeds RFC, 5 caps)
14 Jack Bracken (Saracens, Barnet Elizabethans RFC, uncapped)
13 Oli Spencer (Newcastle Falcons, Epping Rams Rugby, 5 caps)
12 Sean Kerr (Harlequins, Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club, 4 caps)
11 Alex Wills (Sale Sharks, Droitwich Rugby Club, 7 caps)

10 Josh Bellamy (Harlequins, Rosslyn Park, 4 caps)
9 Ollie Allan (Leicester Tigers, Hungerford RFC, uncapped)

1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, Broadstreet RFC, 14 caps)
2 Craig Wright (Northampton Saints, Braintree Rugby Club, 5 caps)
3 Billy Sela (Bath Rugby, Royal Wootton Bassett RFC, 5 caps)
4 Joe Bailey (Exeter Chiefs, Newton Abbot RFC, 5 caps)
5 Junior Kpoku (Racing 92, Saracens Amateurs, 4 caps)
6 Finn Carnduff (CAPTAIN – Leicester Tigers, Market Harborough RFC, 15 caps)
7 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, Buckingham Rugby Club, 5 caps)
8 Nathan Michelow (Saracens, Brentwood Rugby, 10 caps)

REPLACEMENTS

16 James Isaacs (Saracens, Hemel Hempstead Camelot RFC, 3 caps)
17 Cameron Miell (Leicester Tigers, Paul Roos, uncapped)
18 Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby, Bishop Wand School, 11 caps)
19 Olamide Sodeke (Saracens, Blackheath Rugby Club, 4 caps)
20 Kane James (Exeter Chiefs, St Peters RFC, 4 caps)
21 Lucas Friday (Harlequins, Bromley RFC, uncapped)
22 Benjamin Coen (Exeter Chiefs, Teignmouth RFC, uncapped)
23 Ioan Jones (Gloucester Rugby, Minchinhampton RFC, 4 caps)

That pack is about the best I can remember from England at this level, the replacement front five look pretty tasty too. It is a shame that the backs aren't as strong as they might be, they should get quick ball.

If you have a Rugby Pass account (which you might have set up to watch the England match against Japan), then there's a series of five videos called "Embedded" featuring the England U20 squad.

https://rugbypass.tv/video/653568?playlistId=19538

Now there's an U20 tournament for the four Rugby Championship sides, we'll see if that improves their performances at this world cup.

England have already blown two chances, the winger wants subbed for not passing that ball, he had a two man overlap walking in under the post.

And they just ignored a four man overlap, it really isn't good rugby intelligence.

Another 2-on-1 ignored, this is ridiculous.

Fantastic score from England and they really needed it. Saying that, they should have scored at least another 2 or 3.

England left a few chances out there. Couple times ball should have gone out.
Better start to second half with early try

Something has clicked for England and suddenly look incredibly dangerous.

Bellamy doesn't half look like Marcus Smith from behind!

Could be a long second half for the Pumas if England can keep this cohesion. It has been such as physical battle and England's replacement front five are also huge.

You were saying. Try for Argentina and yellow for England....

There was an 'if' there.

Card was a bit harsh, Argentina have committed numerous penalties in their 22 but haven't even had a warning.

He keeps telling Argentina to step, they don't step and he doesn't penalise them! He yellow carded the English player for having his feet on the tryline rather than being behind it!

Some poor refereeing in the last couple of phases - he’s let Argentina get away with playing the 9 from the floor and the most recent penalty they clearly had a tackler on the wrong side impeding the clearout.

Stunning interception and break from Ben Cohen, though. Living up to his illustrious namesake.

Wow, what a try. Great play by England.

What a try that was! U20s can be frustrating, but it is also so fun to watch.

Two cracking kicks from Sean Kerr - one to make the try and one for the conversion when the ball fell off the tee.

Hat trick try for Bracken, superb.

Bracken looks like a heck of a talent, good genes in that family...

Kpoku has been a mixed bag - some really dumb offences coupled with moments of brilliance… like that one that created Bracken’s third try.

Argentina being allowed to lie on top of the ruck and play the ball. If the scoreline wasn’t so far in England’s favour, this would have been really frustrating.

It was a good win and the score probably flatters England a little, but they did leave a lot of points on the pitch in the first half. Some individual brilliance, but I don't think that half backs are good enough for England to win the tournament.

Georgia have a try against Australia, which is the first score of the game.

Meanwhile, it's Ireland 12-10 Italy

Georgia are leading 8-3 and they may hold on to win now that Aus have a red card. Georgia are a decent team at this level.

Watching a replay of England-Argentina.

Very impressed by the England scrum power.
I really like the look of the front row of Opoku-Fordjour, Wright, and Sela.  Really good on both sides of the ball.  Sela and Wright were great with the ball.
I was prepared to not feel confident about Bellamy.  But I thought he was really good.  That delay pass for England's first  try was pro level, top drawer stuff.  Unfortunately his defense rather resembles Ronan O'Gara.
Both Kerr at 12 and Bracken at 14 were really promising.

Ultimately, though, this was the Carnduff - Pollock show.  Busy, winning collisions, in the right place, undeterred.
In particular Pollock was simply nuts.  All the defensive and breakdown stuff as good as it gets, but his ball in hand skills and attacking instincts were terrific.

Makes me hope Carnduff plays his whole career at Tigers and Pollock the same at Saints.  The East Midland derbys will be wild.

NZ v Wales highlights are worth a watch

If you have a minute, check out the different skills demonstrated by Pollock leading up to England's first try.
On the video starting around the 46 minute mark, about 33:30 on the game clock. UFB.

Engerland v. Argentina

The next tier of U20 nations are playing a tournament in Scotland for a spot in the main competition.

Japan just beat HK China 105-20, so it looks like there's a quality gap.

Scotland have Samoa in their first game at 5:15pm UK time. It's on BBC Alba, and, probably, Rugby Pass TV.

Scotland won, and 123-15 is a tournament record score.

https://scottishrugby.org/fanzone/match-report-scotland-men-u20-123-15-samoa-u20/

Georgia vs Ireland was some game. Try and catch it without knowing the score.

The ending to France/NZ was bizarre. NZ kicked a clock-in-the-red penalty to win the game, but the touch judges appear to have missed it, and the referee had to send it up to the TMO to get the all clear.

Enjoyable game and certainly one of two halves, as NZ came back from a 0-11 HT score to win 27-26.

Big result from NZ. France have been unstoppable for a few seasons now. They also have another U20 team as big as their seniors.

Italy upsetting Australia and Argentina upsetting South Africa.

Interesting to see some of the new laws/law trials. Not sure I'm a fan of the trial where a kick to restart/start the game can be called a mark by the receiving team if caught in the 22. The trial about a maul only needing to be stopped once, not twice, before the referee says use it, is one I like.

That’s 5 minutes less gloating from South Africans with that result .

I see some of our U20s are listed with the Bath 1st Team on their site, but I'm not sure what type of contracts they're all on. Ieuan Davies, Ioan Emanuel and Louie Hennessey. Hopefully Hennessey gets some game time in the premiership next season, otherwise he needs to move somewhere he can get it, looks a great prospect. Griffin extended his stay with Bath but not a good idea IMO as he's behind Du Toit and Stuart.

mikey_dragon wrote:Big result from NZ. France have been unstoppable for a few seasons now. They also have another U20 team as big as their seniors.

Yeah some effort from New Zealand, who were the last country other than France to win this tournament back in 2017!

I still reckon France will end up lifting the trophy again anyway.

The format is for the three sides topping the pools, and the best second-place side to go through to the semi-finals.

Currently, NZ, Ireland and England are the only unbeaten sides, so they will top the pools if they win today (Tuesday). However, those three matches are NZ vs Spain, Ireland vs Australia and England vs South Africa, so only NZ are heavy favourites to win.

However those matches play out, the best second-place finish could be a bun fight. If France finish on 11 points, with a maximum bonus point win against Wales, then that would see them through, and settle the matter. Similarly, Wales could finish on 11 or 12 with bonus points and a win, which would see them through.

Ireland and England can both lose, and finish on 11 points but those results would also see them top their pools.

It all gets much messier if Wales or France win but only get to 10 points. In a second-place shoot-out, England, Argentina, Ireland and Australia could also be on 10, so points difference and total bonus points will likely come into play.

Scotland U20 101 – 0 Hong Kong China U20

George Carlin wrote:Scotland U20 101 – 0 Hong Kong China U20

I didnt know they played cricket in Hong Kong...

Geordie wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Scotland U20 101 – 0 Hong Kong China U20

I didnt know they played cricket in Hong Kong...

It's better than a cricket score!

Last match between the two sides - March 2018
Hong Kong - 91 ao. Scotland 92 for 6.

Although Scotland keep choking in the play-offs, it seems pointless having them in the JWT. Perhaps the JWC could do with being expanded, get Scotland and the islanders in there. There'll be some more one-sided games but in the long-run it will be better.

demosthenes wrote:

Geordie wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Scotland U20 101 – 0 Hong Kong China U20

I didnt know they played cricket in Hong Kong...

It's better than a cricket score!

Last match between the two sides - March 2018
Hong Kong - 91 ao.  Scotland 92 for 6.

Wow...

Wow

Ireland vs Australia has been called off because of monsoon conditions. Each team is awarded 2 points, so Ireland finish top, and go through to the semi-final.

Australia don't make the semi-final.

Two other matches are scheduled to be played there (France vs Wales and England vs SA), which makes a bit of a mess of the tournament.

If those matches are cancelled, France will go out, and Wales could go through as the best 2nd finish, depending on Argentina. England will top the pool, and SA would miss out on the semi-finals.

As South Africa are hosts, they will be hoping the weather clears, and the pitch can be drained in time.

World Rugby tweet:

The pitch will be assessed again ahead of the two remaining World Rugby U20 Championship matches due to take place at this venue and will only go ahead if the weather conditions improve, and the pitch is sufficiently drained for rugby to be played in safe conditions.

https://x.com/worldrugbymedia/status/1810651932068860072

Rugby Fan wrote:World Rugby tweet:

The pitch will be assessed again ahead of the two remaining World Rugby U20 Championship matches due to take place at this venue and will only go ahead if the weather conditions improve, and the pitch is sufficiently drained for rugby to be played in safe conditions.

https://x.com/worldrugbymedia/status/1810651932068860072

Well, that might save the argument at home about whether we watch the Men's JRWC SA v England tie, or the Women's U20 6N England v Wales... for some unfathomable reason they've been scheduled at overlapping times. You'd have thought that the audience for the two has enough shared members that they'd avoid a clash.

Tweets here show video of conditions near the stadium.

https://x.com/RugbyDigestSA/status/1810653370660630873

https://x.com/TrafficSA/status/1810637399250354236

If that's right, the pitch will need some miraculous drainage if the rain stops.

If the rain persists, the semi-finalists will be NZ, England, Ireland, and Argentina or Wales. Unfortunately, the three matches scheduled at this stadium are the most consequential in the final round.

Argentina are 45-12 ahead against Fiji with 8 minutes to go.

They are set to get maximum 5 points, which will leave them with a total of 10. That's more than the 9 Wales will end up with if their match is cancelled.

Always a farce having to call the games off. All the U20s lads will be very disappointed.