The dream of lifting the distinctive World Rugby U20 Championship trophy on 25 June remains for four teams with only two of them, in hosts England and 2012 winners South Africa, having done so before.

England’s last link with their 2014 winning side has gone after captain Jack Walker was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament after suffering a concussion in the win over Australia, with fly-half Harry Mallinder to take over the armband.

Ireland and Argentina have both reached the semi-finals before, but suffered heavy defeats against England in 2014 and South Africa two years earlier respectively. Both, though, have recorded historic victories over New Zealand and South Africa in Manchester and are full of confidence.

This will be the first time they have met in the knockout stages since the U20 Championship began in 2008, but by contrast this is the fourth time that England and South Africa have locked horns at this stage, the 2016 hosts winning on every occasion.

U20 CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS ... STATISTICALLY SPEAKING >>

SEMI-FINAL: IRELAND V ARGENTINA

Los Pumitas coach Nicolas Fernandez Lobbe insists the target is clear for his players at this U20 Championship and that is “to be champions”, so that will require them to repeat their senior counterpart’s victory over Ireland at Rugby World Cup 2015.

“When we starting preparing for this tournament in January we said to the players that we’d be coming for one thing and that was to be champions,” explained Fernandez Lobbe, whose side topped Pool C after also beating France and Japan. 

“We knew that it would be difficult but we went in with the attitude of taking it game by game. Now our mind-set is focused on Ireland.

“They have beaten New Zealand, the pre-tournament favourites, Six Nations champions Wales and Georgia so we are expecting a really tough game on Monday. 

“They have a good game plan and they stick to it and I know from playing against Ireland lots of times during my career that they are really proud to wear that green shirt so it is going to be a massive game for both teams and hopefully it will be a good game.”

Fernandez Lobbe has made five changes to his starting line-up with Mariano Romanini and Vincente Boronat coming into the back row to join the impressive Marcos Kremer, Patricio Baronio getting the nod again at scrum-half with Santiago Mare partnering captain Juan Cruz Mallia in the centres and Tomas Malanos coming onto the right wing.

Ireland are also riding the crest of a wave, but coach Nigel Carolan had the luxury of resting the bulk of his starting line-up against Georgia last time out with only forwards Sean O’Connor and Greg Jones, along with fly-half Johnny McPhillips and winger Hugo Keenan backing up that 35-7 win.

The squad have also been paid a visit by Taoiseach Enda Kenny (the Irish Prime Minister), who spent time with them the day after they confirmed their place in the semi-finals as Pool A winners with that win over Georgia.

“The players have done really well to get themselves into a World Championship semi-final,” said Carolan. “There’s a great belief amongst this group and they’ve shown what they can do as a team over the course of the last number of games.

“Argentina are going to present another big test for us. They have a lot of physicality up front as well as pace out wide so we are going to need to be at the top of our game tomorrow.”

SEMI-FINAL: ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa's preparations for this semi-final have been hit with injuries with winger S'busiso Nkosi (thigh) and exciting young scrum-half Embrose Papier (ankle ligaments) ruled out after suffering injuries in training.  

Carlü Sadie (ankle) and Franco van den Berg (leg contusion) have also been unable to train but are able to be named on the bench, which means a new front row for the Junior Springboks in Nicolaas Oosthuizen, Tango Balekile and Jacobus Holtzhausen. 

South Africa coach Dawie Theron has made six changes in all for this semi-final, but insists the "spirit in the camp is very good and the guys have trained well, so we are very positive".

“England will come hard at us,” said Theron, who guided South Africa to their only title on home soil in 2012. “They will focus on the scrums, mauls and lineouts, as they like disrupting their opposition at source. They will do the same as in the past by trying to play on their terms, so we would like to get them out of that rhythm.

“In terms of our game, we need to play to our strengths, so we need to get enough quality ball for the backs, and let them do their thing. We have several players with an X-factor in the team, so making the right decisions at the right time will be crucial.”

England coach Martin Haag has also made six changes from the side that beat Australia 17-13 to top Pool B last Wednesday, equally split between the forwards and backs. Jack Singleton replaces the injured Jack Walker with Billy Walker also coming in to the front row and Callum Chick taking over at number eight. Max Green has got the nod at scrum-half with Sam Aspland-Robinson returning to the right wing and Max Malins in at full-back.

“Everyone is very excited in the camp, we set out our goals at the start of the tournament and we are achieving those goals,” said Haag. “The challenge for us now is to keep improving and we are excited about the opportunity to play South Africa in a home semi-final, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them at this level.  

“The players have been absolutely superb and we need to make sure we come out the other side with a victory.

“In attack we need to be sharp, clinical and take the opportunities that come our way. We are anticipating a big battle as you would expect in a semi-final. We need to execute better, we need to set our own identity and play to a level that we aspire to.”

VIEW THE DAY FOUR FIXTURES >>

While all eyes will be on the semi-finals at the World Rugby U20 Championship 2016 in Manchester on Monday, fans could be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu about three of the others matches given the sides have already met once before in the tournament.

New Zealand and Wales will open proceedings at the Manchester City Academy Stadium only five days after the defending champions snatched a last-gasp 18-17 win, although it wasn’t enough to prolong their record as the only nation to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament.

Australia, meanwhile, will be eager to avenge a 15-10 loss to Scotland on day one when they meet in the other fifth to eighth place semi-final last up at AJ Bell Stadium, while France face Japan knowing that a repeat of their 46-14 success on day two will ensure they remain in the tournament for 2017.

Before these four teams take to the AJ Bell Stadium pitch, 2017 hosts Georgia will tackle Italy with both sides looking for a first victory of the tournament. The Junior Lelos came closest to victory in the pool stages with their narrow 10-9 loss to Wales on day two which earned them many plaudits.

FIFTH PLACE SEMI-FINAL: NEW ZEALAND V WALES

Wales have made four changes to the side that suffered heart-break against New Zealand, two of them to freshen up the pack and the others enforced with centre Harri Millard and full-back Rhun Williams both ruled out with injuries.

New Zealand have also kept changes to a minimum as they aim to finish their reign as champions off with two victories to salvage fifth spot, coach Scott Robertson giving Sean Parahini a start at loose-head and reuniting Luke Jacobson with his brother Mitchell and Hapakuki Moala Liava'a in the back row. The fourth change seesStephen Perofeta come in at fly-half, the fourth match in a row with a change at 10.

“These are the high intensity matches the players require to accelerate their development and we’re really pleased with their progress so far,” insisted Wales coach Jason Strange. “Despite the loss, you couldn’t fault their collective effort and level of performance. The match was decided on a few critical decisions and hopefully we have learned from those high pressure situations.

“The players have had a lot of success this season, however it’s also important to go through this process of losing and learning from your mistakes. It will be interesting to see how both teams approach the game tactically after last Wednesday’s match, we will attempt to continue playing the game with skill and passion.”

FIFTH PLACE SEMI-FINAL: SCOTLAND V AUSTRALIA

Scotland began the tournament with an historic first-ever win over Australia and know that a second victory over their opponents will guarantee them their best ever finish in the U20 Championship, bettering the eighth-place finish of 12 months ago in Italy. 

Coach John Dalziel has kept changes to a minimum from the side that beat Italy 27-19 last Wednesday, making only three changes in the pack with one of those positional as Jamie Ritchie moves across the scrum to openside flanker. Lewis Wynne fills his vacated spot with Lewis Anderson coming in at hooker.

Scotland will hope that Blair Kinghorn, named man of the match against Italy for his performance from full-back, and Robbie Nairn can provide the spark against an Australian side disappointed after their narrow 17-13 loss to hosts England which ended their semi-final aspirations.

Australia coach Adrian Thompson welcomes Campbell Magnay back from his two-match suspension following his sending off against Scotland on day one, but slots him in on the right-wing rather than the outside-centre he played that day in the only change to the backline.

The other five changes are in the pack with loose-head Faalelei Sione, Lukhan Lealaiaulolo-Tui will wear four on his back this time with Isack Rodda coming into the second row alongside him, while Rob Leota and Liam Wright come in to join number eight Maclean Jones in the back row.

NINTH PLACE SEMI-FINAL: GEORGIA V ITALY

Italy, who have escaped relegation on the final day of the last two U20 Championships, have made two changes to their starting line-up, one of them as a result of winger Pierre Bruno’s tournament being ended by a two-week suspension for kicking a Scotland player last Wednesday.

Lorenzo Masato fills his right-wing berth, while the only other change made by coach Alessandro Troncon sees Engjel Makelara given the nod to start at hooker. 

Georgia coach Ilia Maisuradze has also kept changes to a minimum, making one in the pack and two in his backline with Irakli Tskhadadze coming into the second row and Davit Meskhi and Irakli Svanidze starting on the wing and at full-back.

NINTH PLACE SEMI-FINAL: FRANCE v JAPAN

France are already guaranteed to finish in their lowest ever position regardless of their final two results, Les Bleuets dropping into the bottom four after Wales and Australia both picked up losing bonus points on the final day.

Coach Olivier Magne has made six changes to his starting line-up for this rematch with Japan, the most talked about one being the move of Antoine Dupont from scrum-half to fly-half to fill the void left by Romauld Seguy’s five-week suspension for stamping.

His Japanese counterpart Ryuji Nakatake has, for the fourth match in a row, made only minimal changes, the stand-out one among them the return of the tournament's top try-scorer Ataata Moeakiola to the right wing, where he scored a first-half hat-trick against South Africa on day one. 

The switch of Moeakiola, one of seven players in Japan's starting XV capped at test level by the Brave Blossoms during last month's Asia Rugby Championship, means that Taisetsu Kanai comes in at fly-half with the only other change seeing Faulua Makisi returning at blindside flanker.

The U20 Championship matches will, subject to geo-blocking in some territories, be streamed live on www.worldrugby.org/u20. Stay in touch via @WorldRugby and tell us what you think by using the official #WorldRugby20s.