Now in its 13th year, the World Rugby U20 Championship has unearthed countless stars of the future and matches that have lived long in the memory.
From Rugby World Cup winners such as All Blacks forward Sam Whitelock and Springboks’ fly-half Handré Pollard – the top points scorer in the RWC 2019 final – to current England captain Owen Farrell, age-grade international rugby’s premier event has provided the perfect stage to introduce exciting young talent.
No less than 707 players have experienced playing at the U20 Championship before going on to be capped by their countries – enough to highlight its role in the player development pathway.
Traditionally New Zealand have been the dominant force in the competition, capturing the title a record six times, with England the next-best on three. However, in recent times it is France who have emerged from the shadows.
Les Bleuets won their inaugural title on home soil in 2018 before becoming the third team, after New Zealand and England, to successfully defend their crown in Argentina 12 months later with a thrilling 24-23 victory over Oceania U20 champions Australia.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2008
Host: Wales
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: England
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Most capped graduates: Sam Whitelock (NZL) 117, Will Genia (AUS) 110, Ben Youngs (ENG and Lions) 101
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,985
Tries: 257
Top points scorer
Player: Francois Brummer (RSA) 67
Team: South Africa 257
Top try scorer
Player: Ratu Nasiganyavi (AUS) 7 (Now known as Nemani Nadolo, FIJ)
Team: South Africa 37
New Zealand were in a class of their own at the inaugural World Rugby U20 Championship in 2008, where their brand of free-flowing rugby saw them win every match by at least 25 points.
Three-quarters of the squad in Wales had helped New Zealand dominate the U19 Championship a year earlier and the new tournament – which replaced the U19 and U21 events – saw more of the same with 242 points and 34 tries scored and only 28 points and one try conceded by a team captained by second-row Chris Smith.
Labelled “a special group” by co-coach Russel Hilton-Jones, New Zealand overwhelmed England 38-3 in the final at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea with Kade Poki, Jackson Willison, Andre Taylor and Ryan Crotty their try-scorers. South Africa finished third after a 43-18 win over a Wales side captained by Sam Warburton, while USA were relegated to the second tier U20 Trophy in 2009 after losing the 15th place play-off to Japan 44-8.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2009
Host: Japan
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: England
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Most capped graduates: Ben Youngs (ENG and Lions) 101, Rob Simmons (AUS) 100, James Slipper (AUS) 96
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,973
Tries: 257
Top points scorer
Player: Tom Homer (ENG) 68
Team: New Zealand 215
Top try scorer
Player: Zac Guildford (NZL) 8
Team: New Zealand 33
With only one of New Zealand’s 2008 team returning in Zac Guildford, it was Australia who arrived in Japan as favourites given the presence of Super Rugby players such as Kurtley Beale in their ranks. And the Junior Wallabies showed why they were so fancied with three dominant displays in the pool stages, while New Zealand failed to find the elusive 80-minute performance.
The trans-Tasman rivals met in the semi-finals but, contrary to expectations, it was New Zealand who finally delivered with captain Aaron Cruden pulling the strings in a 31-17 victory. England won 40-21 in the other semi-final against a South African side that had made it through to the last four after an extraordinary game against France which saw them trail 20-0 before scoring 43 unanswered points.
On finals day in Tokyo, heavy rain fell until just before the title decider, but while England were more competitive than 12 months earlier, they never recovered from a two-try blitz from the inspirational Cruden and New Zealand defended their crown with a seven-try 44-28 win.
South Africa finished third again after coping better with the wet conditions than Australia. With the tournament being cut from 16 to 12 teams for 2010, the teams who finished bottom of their pools were relegated in Canada, Japan, Italy and debutants Uruguay.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2010
Host: Argentina
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: Australia
Most capped graduates: Taulupe Faletau (WAL and Lions) 80, Joe Marler (ENG) 71, Mako Vunipola (ENG and Lions) 65
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,569
Tries: 179
Top points scorer
Player: Tyler Bleyendaal (NZL) 82
Team: New Zealand 262
Top try scorer
Player: Julian Savea (NZL) 8
Team: New Zealand 33
The 2010 edition certainly left its mark on the Litoral region of Argentina with thousands of fans attending matches across the venues in Rosario, Santa Fe and Paraná and creating atmospheres to savour. They were treated to some thrilling matches and tension, particularly when the hosts needed a kicking competition to beat Wales after the sides had drawn 19-19 on day four.
Australia reached a first final after back-to-back wins over South Africa and England, but the title decider proved a match too far as New Zealand produced what coach Dave Rennie labelled “pretty close” to the perfect performance. Captain Tyler Bleyendaal pulled the strings, scoring 28 points in their seven-try, 62-17 victory, with winger Telusa Veainu scoring a hat-trick.
South Africa finished third again after beating England 27-22, while Samoa were condemned to relegation to the U20 Trophy – to be replaced by 2010 winners Italy – after losing the 11th place-play-off 23-3 to Tonga.
Earlier in the tournament, Ireland captain Rhys Ruddock had been called away to join up with the senior squad in Australia as injury cover and his subsequent test debut meant that all 17 nations to grace the U20 Championship had capped a graduate.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2011
Host: Italy
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: England
Most capped graduates: Michael Hooper (AUS) 99, Owen Farrell (ENG and Lions) 87, Eben Etzebeth (RSA) 85, Joe Marler (ENG) 71
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,640
Tries: 204
Top points scorer
Player: Gareth Anscombe (NZL) 86
Team: New Zealand 274
Top try scorer
Player: Arno Botha (RSA) / Christian Wade (ENG) 7
Team: New Zealand 37
New Zealand and England met for the third time in four U20 Championship finals, and while the result was the same, this was the closest the champions had come to losing a title decider.
Six Nations Grand Slam winners England dominated the early exchanges in Padova but couldn’t turn it into points on the scoreboard. New Zealand, by contrast, made the most of their opportunities and the fact that Gareth Anscombe didn’t miss a kick ultimately proved the difference in a 33-22 victory – their 20th in a row.
Australia had avenged their Pool B decider loss to France to finish third, while Fiji felt the wrath of a South African side who had failed to reach the last four with a 104-17 defeat. Despite that final day loss, Fiji still left Italy with their best finish of sixth.
Hosts Italy also had cause to celebrate on the final day when they beat Tonga 34-22 in the 11th place play-off to retain their place in the top tier, condemning the Pacific islanders to relegation to the U20 Trophy in 2012.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2012
Host: South Africa
Winner: South Africa
Runner-up: New Zealand
Most capped graduates: Pablo Matera (ARG) 66, Tommaso Allan (ITA) 57, Pieter-Steph du Toit (RSA) 55, Iain Henderson (IRE) 55, Gael Fickou (FRA) 55
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,343
Tries: 165
Top points scorer
Player: Tom Prydie (WAL) 61
Team: Wales 158
Top try scorer
Player: Jamie Farndale (SCO) 6
Team: Scotland 21
The form book was ripped up in 2012 with the final contested for the first time by two teams who had each lost a pool match, hosts South Africa falling to Ireland and New Zealand suffering their first-ever U20 Championship loss, against Wales.
It was the dream final between the hosts and the four-time defending champions and watched by a 35,000 crowd that created a cauldron of noise inside Newlands Stadium. Two second-half tries, one by centre Jan Serfontein, gave South Africa the breathing space to survive the final 10 minutes when New Zealand threw all they had at their hosts.
South Africa had ended New Zealand’s vice-like grip on the trophy, but it had also been a breakthrough tournament for Argentina who finished fourth after defeating Wales on the final day. England could only finish a disappointing seventh, while Fiji had to dig deep to survive a fight-back by Italy to win the relegation battle 19-17 and condemn the Italians to the U20 Trophy in 2013.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2013
Host: France
Winner: England
Runner-up: Wales
Most capped graduates: Pablo Matera (ARG) 66, Julian Montoya (ARG) 59, Jonny Gray (SCO) 57
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,550
Tries: 189
Top points scorer
Player: Patricio Fernandez (ARG) 82
Team: England 219
Top try scorer
Player: Seabelo Senatla (RSA) 7
Team: South Africa 30
England versus Wales was the first final to feature two northern hemisphere teams and it turned out to be the proverbial game of two halves.
Touches of brilliance from Welsh fly-half Sam Davies saw his side lead 15-3 at half-time in Vannes, but once Jack Nowell scored just before the hour mark, the momentum swung England’s way and they went on to win 23-15 and put previous near-misses behind them.
England, who only made the last four as the best runner-up after losing to South Africa, had beaten New Zealand for the first time at this level in the semi-finals, while Davies was Wales’ hero against the Junior Springboks, setting up a try in the final minute and then nailing the touchline conversion for the 18-17 win.
South Africa won an 11-try thriller against New Zealand to finish third, while Fiji proved too strong for the USA in the 11th place play-off, winning 46-12 to condemn the Junior All-Americans to an immediate return to the U20 Trophy.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2014
Host: New Zealand
Winner: England
Runner-up: South Africa
Most capped graduates: Guido Petti (ARG) 53, Handre Pollard (RSA) 48, Jesse Kriel (RSA) 46
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,473
Tries: 187
Top points scorer
Player: Patricio Fernandez (ARG) 73
Team: New Zealand 196
Top try scorer
Player: Andrew Kellaway (AUS) 10
Team: New Zealand 28
Two previous winners met in a U20 Championship final for the first time as England and South Africa produced a pulsating encounter at Eden Park. It took time for the showpiece game to spark into life, but it was always competitive with the result always in the balance.
Jesse Kriel scored twice for South Africa, but England’s defence held firm, surviving a drop goal attempt from the impressive Handré Pollard, to win 21-20 and retain their title.
Hosts New Zealand had twice been beaten by South Africa, but finished on a high after four second-half tries against a gutsy Irish side were enough to secure third place, while winger Andrew Kellaway set a new record for tries in a single championship with a brace as Australia fought back to beat France 34-27 in the battle for fifth place.
Meanwhile, Fiji were relegated to the U20 Trophy in 2015 after losing the 11th place play-off to Italy 22-17.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2015
Host: Italy
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: England
Most capped graduates: Anton Lienert-Brown (NZL) 43, Zander Fagerson (SCO) 29, Garry Ringrose (IRE) 29
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,432
Tries: 180
Top points scorer
Player: Brandon Thomson (RSA) 59
Team: New Zealand 191
Top try scorer
Player: Tevita Li (NZL) 6
Team: New Zealand 24
Back on Italian soil, the scene of their last U20 Championship triumph, New Zealand ended their barren run with a 21-16 victory over England. In another tight affair, Akira Ioane scored the only try of the second half and that proved the difference in Cremona.
South Africa overcame France to finish third, while Scotland and Japan, on their return to the U20 Championship, recorded their highest finishes of eighth and 10th.
The relegation battle went right down to the final play, Samoa missing with a penalty attempt from halfway that would have condemned Italy to relegation to the U20 Trophy in 2016. Instead, the 20-19 loss meant Samoa slipped once more back to the second tier.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2016
Host: England
Winner: England
Runner-up: Ireland
Most capped graduates: Marcos Kremer (ARG) 28, Jacob Stockdale (IRE) 28, Dillon Lewis (WAL) 26
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,572
Tries: 208
Top points scorer
Player: Harry Mallinder (ENG) 68
Team: New Zealand 223
Top try scorer
Player: Ataata Moeakiola (JPN) 6
Team: New Zealand 34
England became only the second host nation to lift the trophy after a tournament full of surprises in Manchester.
Fellow finalists Ireland had found themselves in a tough pool with defending champions New Zealand and Six Nations Grand Slam winners Wales but they defied the odds to finish on top, becoming the first Irish men's side in history to beat New Zealand, at any level, along the way.
Argentina also upset the form book in beating South Africa not once but twice – including 49-19 on the final day – to record their best finish of third.
In the final, first-time finalists Ireland came up against an irrepressible side inspirationally led by two-try hero Harry Mallinder. England added to their wins in 2013 and 2014 with a brilliant 45-21 victory.
New Zealand failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time but bounced back to finish fifth while Georgia finished 10th on their debut, giving Wales and France real scares along the way.
Italy survived another relegation battle to condemn Japan to the U20 Trophy in 2017 after a 41-17 defeat.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2017
Host: Georgia
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: England
Most capped graduates: Jordan Larmour (IRE) 24, Blair Kinghorn (SCO) 21, Romain Ntamack (FRA) 16
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,789
Tries: 239
Top points scorer
Player: Tiaan Falcon (NZL) 69
Team: New Zealand 282
Top try scorer
Player: Juarno Augustus (RSA) 7
Team: New Zealand 41
New Zealand ripped up the U20 Championship record books in claiming a sixth title with their 64-17 victory over defending champions England seeing them score the most tries, most points and record the biggest winning margin in a final.
The tournament in Georgia produced plenty of surprises along the way with the first draw in the competition's history, between France and South Africa on day one, as well as the highest-ever finish for both Scotland (fifth) and Italy (eighth) with the latter avoiding their traditional final day relegation battle. Instead, it was Argentina and Samoa who faced that play-off with the Pacific Islanders losing 53-42 to drop down to the World Rugby U20 Trophy in 2018.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2018
Host: France
Winner: France
Runner-up: England
Most-capped graduates: Romain Ntamack (FRA) 16, Tedo Abzhandadze (GEO) 15, Guram Gogichashvili (GEO) 14
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,628
Tries: 220
Top points scorer
Player: Louis Carbonel (FRA), 60
Team: Australia 178
Top try scorer
Player: Giovanni D'Onofrio (ITA), Wandisile Simelane (RSA), 6
Team: South Africa 26
France overturned their Six Nations loss to England at a sold-out Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers to become the fourth nation to add their name to the U20 Championship trophy.
England outscored France three tries to two in the final, but a 23-point contribution from the boot of Louis Carbonel, through seven penalties and a conversion, ensured it was Les Bleuets who came out on top, 33-25, to the delight of their passionate home support.
England had claimed a thrilling one-point win over South Africa in the first semi-final with France dethroning defending champions New Zealand in the other, but there would be no stopping a team regarded as France's “golden generation” in the title decider.
The tournament in France saw Italy match their best-ever finish of eighth from the previous year, with Georgia showing their continued development by beating Ireland, Japan and Scotland to finish ninth. Ireland found themselves in the relegation play-off against Japan, needing a last-gasp try to triumph 39-33 and avoid dropping into the U20 Trophy in 2019.
U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2019
Host: Argentina
Winner: France
Runner-up: Australia
Most capped graduates: Tedo Abzhandadze (GEO) 15, Arthur Vincent (FRA) 4, Deme Tapladze (GEO) 2, Jean-Baptiste Gros (FRA) 2
Tournament statistics
Points: 1,644
Tries: 189
Top points scorer
Player: Josh Hodge (ENG), 63
Team: England 181
Top try scorer
Player: Ewan Ashman (SCO), 7
Team: New Zealand 24
For France’s ‘golden generation’ it was another triumphant year as they overcame Australia 24-23 in arguably the most entertaining final in the competition’s history.
France joined New Zealand (2008-11) and England (2013-14) in successfully defending the coveted title after denying Australia a first title in the same Argentine city where they were humbled 62-17 by New Zealand in the 2010 final.
Given Australia had recently been crowned Oceania U20 champions, this was never going to be such a one-sided affair. Only the second ever final to be decided by a single point – after England's 21-20 defeat of South Africa at Eden Park in 2014 – the 2019 fixture will live long in the memory.
France and Australia produced 80 minutes of pulsating rugby that kept fans on the edge of their seats as it swung one way and then the other. In fact, the lead changed hands no fewer than seven times before France fly-half Louis Carbonel kicked what proved to be the winning penalty with 15 minutes to go at the Racecourse Stadium in Rosario.
Past reputations counted for nothing in 2019’s tournament, with England struggling to impose themselves and New Zealand losing to both South Africa and Wales to finish in their lowest-ever position of seventh.
Meanwhile, Scotland became the first Home Nation to drop out of the U20 Championship after being on the receiving end of a brilliant display of attacking rugby from Fiji in the 11th place play-off.