The 12 best U20 teams will be on display in Italy from the end of next week, where England and New Zealand will be looking to extend their impressive records, while France will hope to continue their recent form and South Africa look to buck their semi-final misfortunes...

Where is it?

Rugby’s future stars will play matches across four cities in the Lombardia and Veneto regions of Italy – Calvisano, Rovigo, Verona and Viadana.

What are the dates?

The tournament runs from 29 June up to the final on 19 July.

Matchday 1: Sunday, 29 June
Matchday 2: Friday, 4 July
Matchday 3: Wednesday, 9 July
Matchday 4: Monday, 14 July
Matchday 5: Saturday, 19 July

What is the format?

The tournament consists of three pools, each with four teams. After the three pool matchdays, the winners of each pool and the best runner-up out of the three pools will progress to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, while the losers of those semi-finals will play for third place.

The eight teams that do not make it into the semi-finals will still feature in the knockouts, with the teams ranked fifth to eighth after the group stage going into semi-finals and a final to determine the final rankings of those spots.

The teams ranked ninth to 12th play in the same format for their final rankings. It means that each team will be involved in every matchday.

Which teams are involved?

Pool A is the toughest pool of the lot, housing England, Australia, South Africa and Scotland - two of which are former champions of this tournament. South Africa won in 2012 while England have won four times - 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2024. Australia, meanwhile, have finished as runners-up twice; 2010 and 2019. Scotland are back in the tournament for the first time since 2019 after winning last year's U20 trophy. 

Pool B sees last year's runners-up France - who won the three tournaments that preceded it - take on Argentina, Wales and Spain - who are making their second appearance in the tournament following their debut last year.

In Pool C we have six-time champions New Zealand up against 2023 runners-up Ireland, hosts Italy, and Georgia.

What happened last year?

England are the defending champions after beating France 21-13 in last year's final at the Cape Town Stadium. New Zealand finished third after beating Ireland in the third-place playoff.

Which teams to look out for

The two most successful teams in U20 Championship history are England and New Zealand, who have made a combined 17 appearances in the final. New Zealand have won the most titles with six, while England have four - though they have made the final an impressive ten times out of 14 since the inaugural tournament in 2008. France have been one of the recent stand-out teams, winning three out of the last four tournaments as well as appearing in last year's final where they were beaten by England.

South Africa have a good record of making it to the knockouts, but a poor record from there. In 14 tournaments they have made the last four on 12 occasions, but only twice made the final. They will want to fix that this time out - especially after the disappointment of finishing seventh on home soil last year.

New Zealand are the current southern hemisphere champions after winning the U20 Rugby Championship following a thrilling 48-45 final-round victory over the Junior Springboks in Gqeberha in May, while France beat all but England to win the U20 Six Nations earlier this year.

Pool fixtures

Matchday 1: Sunday, 29 June

England U20 v Scotland U20 (Verona, 15:30 local time)
Australia U20 v South Africa U20 (Calvisano, 15:30 local time)
France U20 v Spain U20 (Verona, 18:00 local time)
Ireland U20 v Georgia U20 (Calvisano, 18:00 local time)
Argentina U20 v Wales U20 (Verona, 20:30 local time)
New Zealand U20 v Italy U20 (Calvisano, 20:30 local time)

Matchday 2: Friday, 4 July

France U20 v Wales U20 (Rovigo, 15:30 local time)
Australia U20 v Scotland U20 (Viadana, 15:30 local time)
England U20 v South Africa U20 (Rovigo, 18:00 local time)
New Zealand U20 v Georgia U20 (Viadana, 18:00 local time)
Argentina U20 v Spain U20 (Rovigo, 20:30 local time)
Ireland U20 v Italy U20 (Viadana, 20:30 local time)

Matchday 3: Wednesday, 9 July

Wales U20 v Spain U20 (Verona, 15:30 local time)
South Africa U20 v Scotland U20 (Calvisano, 15:30 local time)
England U20 v Australia U20 (Verona, 18:00 local time)
New Zealand U20 v Ireland U20 (Calvisano, 18:00 local time)
France U20 v Argentina U20 (Verona, 20:30 local time)
Georgia U20 v Italy U20 (Calvisano, 20:30 local time)

Watch the U20 Championship on RugbyPass TV by clicking here.