The numbers game: All you need to know about the U20 Championship semi-finals

We bring you some interesting statistics on past semi-finals at the World Rugby U20 Championship before hosts England take on South Africa and Ireland meet Argentina on Monday at the Manchester City Academy Stadium.

• Eight teams have contested an U20 Championship semi-final in New Zealand, England, South Africa, France, Australia, Wales, Argentina and Ireland.
   
• Of these eight teams, only Argentina, Ireland and France have never reached the final.
   
• This will be the fourth time that England and South Africa have met in the semi-finals with this year's hosts winning the three previous encounters in 2008, 2009 and 2015 (main picture). 
   
• By contrast, Ireland and Argentina have never met in the knockout stages of the U20 Championship.
   
• The fastest try scored in an U20 Championship semi-final was by England wing Christian Wade after just three minutes of the 2011 last four encounter with France in Treviso. England went on to win 33-18.
   
• A total of 749 points have been scored in the 16 U20 Championship semi-finals to date, which averages out to 46.81 points per last four encounter.
   
• The most points scored in a single semi-final is 61 back in 2009 when England beat South Africa 40-21 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo.
   
• The fewest points scored in a single semi-final is 35 in 2013 when Wales edged South Africa 18-17 to reach a first U20 Championship final. 
   
• The Manchester City Academy Stadium will become the 10th venue to host an U20 Championship semi-final after Rodney Parade (2008), Cardiff Arms Park (2008), Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium (2009), Estadio El Coloso del Parque (2010), Stadio Comunale di Monigo (2011), Newlands (2012), Stade de la Rabine (2013), QBE Stadium (2014) and Stadio San Michele (2015).
   
• Eighteen is the fewest points scored by a winning semi-finalist – by Wales in overcoming South Africa in 2013.
   
• Forty-five points is the most points scored by a winning semi-finalist – by New Zealand in ending France’s hopes of a first final in 2015.
   
• A total of 85 tries have been scored across the 16 semi-finals to date. Sixty of these have been turned into seven pointers.
   
• The most tries scored in a semi-final is seven, which happened in both encounters in 2014 as England beat Ireland 42-15 and South Africa overcame hosts New Zealand 32-25 and then again last year when New Zealand beat France 45-7.
   
• The first player to score any points in an U20 Championship semi-final was Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked a sixth-minute penalty in Wales’ 30-6 loss to New Zealand in 2008. 
   
• The longest wait for a try in a semi-final is 38 minutes, the point at which Jimmy Tupou crashed over for New Zealand in their win over Wales in 2012.
   
• The side scoring the most tries in almost every semi-final to date has been the winning side, the exception being Wales’ win over South Africa in 2013 when both scored two tries. 
   
• The only sides not to score a try in a semi-final appearance are Wales (2008 and 2012) and Argentina (2012).
   
• Only four times has the team scoring first not gone on to win the semi-final – Wales in 2008 and 2012, Australia in 2011 and New Zealand in 2014. 
   
• The most penalties kicked in a semi-final is seven, which has been achieved twice – in England’s victories over South Africa in 2009 and New Zealand in 2013. The fewest is one in the 2015 encounter between eventual champions New Zealand and France.
   
• The only drop goal to have been slotted between the posts in a semi-final was kicked by England’s Howard Packman in 2014. 
   
• Only one red card has been issued in an U20 Championship semi-final to date with South Africa’s Rynhardt Elstadt the man sent off in their 2009 loss to England.