It’s incredible to think these two powerhouses of the sport have only met in the World Rugby U20 Championship final on one occasion. That was in 2012, when a Junior Springboks team featuring future men’s double World Cup winners Handre Pollard, Steven Kitshoff and Pieter-Steph du Toit handed New Zealand their only defeat in an U20 final, 22-16.
A year later, Cheslin Kolbe and Jesse Kriel got the better of Scott Barrett and Ardie Savea as South Africa won 41-34 in the third-place play-off.
Who will be the future stars to emerge from the 2025 final in Rovigo? It’s hard to look past South Africa’s back division, which has skill, pace and rugby IQ to burn, led by Hassiem Pead. The scrum-half is the tournament’s top try scorer having broken a record previously held by France superstar Antoine Dupont.
"That is an unbelievable try!" 🇿🇦@SAJuniorRugby are bringing their pace and power to the pitch ⚡#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/FgUbzQXCJk
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 14, 2025
It’s a comparison the South Africa head coach doesn’t shy away from: “He’s incredibly humble and won’t get ahead of himself,” Kevin Foote said. “He has everything – running, defence, kicking – and he’s also very mature. But his best attribute is how well he reads the game. Just being compared to Antoine is a compliment in itself.”
Following the 48-24 semi-final victory over Argentina, though, it wasn’t individual brilliance that Foote and South Africa captain Riley Norton focused on but the collective defensive effort. Both also admitted that this had been an area of particular focus since the 48-45 defeat to New Zealand in this year’s U20 Rugby Championship.
All the hard work paid off in the semi-final against Los Pumitas. Having raced into a 26-3 lead, the Junior Springboks were pegged back, conceding 69% territory and 60% possession in the second half - and, less impressively, 16 penalties and two yellow cards in the game overall. They were also under pressure in the set-piece, with just 64% scrum success and 69% in the lineout. But not once did they look like losing the game.
Hard work, history and handling the pressure
Having passed a defensive examination, South Africa will head into the final with confidence but they are unlikely to get away with similar stats against New Zealand, who were so clinical in their semi-final. They beat only 13 defenders to France’s 37, but still managed to score four tries, while Rico Simpson was perfect from the kicking tee.
If they too can tidy up their discipline – New Zealand also had two players sent to the sin bin in their semi-final – it could come down to a shootout between two electric back divisions.
While this is a mouthwatering proposition for the neutrals, it’s not something those involved are expecting. “Both sides have got weapons out wide so it will be exciting,” New Zealand assistant coach Jarrad Hoeata admitted. “But I think the team that works hardest will be the last man standing, especially with a tournament like this with five-day turnarounds – it’s a bit of a war of attrition.”
Foote, meanwhile, believes it will come down “to character and leadership, who is going to stand up under the pressure”.
And pressure doesn’t come much greater than carrying the hopes of a rugby-mad nation, that has been starved of recent success at this level, on your shoulders. While New Zealand won the last of their six titles in 2017, also the last time they reached the final, South Africa haven’t contested the showpiece since 2014, two years after they lifted the trophy for the one and only time.
Both teams have named unchanged starting XVs with Will Cole returning to the New Zealand bench after missing the semi-final.
New Zealand v South Africa, Final, 20:30 (CET)
Can Argentina overcome the odds to shock wounded France?
Argentina had much to celebrate the last time they played France, a late, late score securing a four-try bonus point to put them into the semi-finals. It doesn’t hide the fact that they lost heavily that night (52-26) as they did to South Africa in the last four despite a stirring second-half performance.
As against the Junior Springboks, Los Pumitas will need more than just set-piece prowess to beat Les Bleuets, who will be smarting after failing to reach the final for the first time since 2017.
As well as taking the learnings from the pool-stage defeat, Argentina might look at the omens from 2016, when they beat France en route to finishing third for the first and thus-far only time.
France make five changes to their starting XV while Argentina make six.
France v Argentina, Third-place play-off, 18:00 (CET)
While England and Australia’s fight for fifth place looks like the most exciting of the remaining play-off matches – after the two teams fought out a 10-try thriller in the pool phase – the most intriguing clash could be the 11th-place play-off. Ireland, having reached the semi-finals in 2024, will be hoping to avoid a shock against improving Spain, after two-point defeats to Italy and Scotland have left the Irish wondering what might have been. Spain stunned Fiji in last year’s 11th-place play-off and have been competitive again this year, despite four defeats.
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