The race for the World Rugby Junior World Championship 2026 title is intensifying after the final round of pool matches on Tuesday saw the four most successful teams in history all emerge victorious to reach the semi-finals.
In two thrilling matches that went right down to the wire, England edged Argentina 40-38 in Tbilisi to top Pool C before France beat Australia 34-29 in the Pool D decider in Kutaisi.
Defending champions South Africa overpowered Wales 52-33 and New Zealand defeated Italy 45-15 to claim top spot in Pool A and B respectively as all 368 players in action wore distinctive shirts in support of the tournament's Keep Rugby Clean Day.
France will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final at 18:00 local time (GMT+4) on Monday, 13 July before the Junior Springboks face England at 20:30 local time, the quartet bidding to all reach the title decider at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi on 18 July.
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POOL A
SOUTH AFRICA 52-33 WALES: Junior Springboks keep title defence on course
South Africa recovered from a sluggish start to show their class and book a semi-final date with England as they bid to defend their Junior World Championship title.
The Junior Springboks trailed 14-0 after just 10 minutes to a vibrant Wales side in this Pool A decider at Avchala Stadium in the Georgian capital, but they recovered superbly to score 26 unanswered points for a half-time lead.
From there they did not look back and, despite Wales coming back strongly with a third try early in the second half, South Africa ultimately outscored Richard Whiffin’s side – who now face Australia in the fifth place semi-finals – by eight tries to five.
The Junior Springboks have now won their last nine matches at the Junior World Championship – their longest-ever run in the tournament – and it will take a special team to stop them retaining their crown.
Flanker Caio James crashed over to put Wales ahead in the right corner before co-captain Steffan Emanuel added a superb second to encourage hopes of a famous Welsh victory.
Yet the Junior Springboks kept their composure and hit back with four tries before the break as Hendre Schoeman, Ethan Adams, captain Siphosethu Mnebelele and Heinrich Theron all touched down.
Flanker Risima Khosa added a fifth South African try early in the second half with Wales duo Osian Lewis and Tom Bowen scoring either side of a sixth Junior Springboks' score from Liam van Wyk.
Van Wyk and Mnebelele then completed their braces to cap a handsome victory for the reigning champions before Wales claimed a late consolation try through Lewis Edwards.
POOL A
GEORGIA 56-3 URUGUAY: Narsia at the treble as Junior Lelos set up Italy showdown after emphatic win over Uruguay
Tournament hosts Georgia picked up their first win at the third attempt to the delight of a raucous home crowd who defied the rain-soaked conditions at Avchala Stadium.
The Junior Lelos had been dramatically edged out 25-24 by Wales in their opening game before losing to defending champions South Africa last Thursday.
This, though, was a victory to savour for Georgia’s players who will head to Kutaisi to face Italy in the ninth place semi-final on Monday, a day after Uruguay will meet Spain in the 13th place semi-final.
The two sides had last met in the pool stage of the sister World Rugby Junior Trophy in 2015, Georgia winning 46-12 en route to claiming the title and their place in the Junior World Championship. They were similarly emphatic winners here as early tries from prop Gabriel Razmadze, scrum-half Temuri Dzodzuashvili and winger Luka Tabatadze put them in total control.
Captain Luka Narsia, one of several Georgia players to catch the eye, then touched down to secure the bonus point on the stroke of half-time.
The highly-rated openside flanker then completed his brace with another try shortly after the interval before registering his hat-trick score late on after team-mates Saba Nozadze and Data Akhvlediani had also got on the scoresheet.
POOL B
NEW ZEALAND 45-15 ITALY: New Zealand show their class to book semi-final showdown with France
New Zealand have lifted the Junior World Championship trophy since 2017, but they reached their 13th semi-final in 16 tournaments with a comfortable win over Italy.
Victory over a spirited Azzurrini at AIA Arena in Kutaisi ensured Kane Jury’s much-changed side topped Pool B to set up a last-four battle against Les Bleuets.
New Zealand had the bonus point in the bag by half-time after tries from Bradley Tocker, David Lewai, captain Josh Findlay and Charlie Sinton before Lautasi Etuale, Cohen Norrie and Siale Pahulu added second-half scores.
It said much for New Zealand’s quality that they were able to take almost total control despite not always hitting top gear – and after being forced into changes before kick-off.
After Mika Muliaina was ruled out, Norrie replaced him at fly-half, Logan Williams moved to full-back and Etuale was promoted from the bench to a starting spot on the left wing.
Italy proved spirited opponents and led through centre Giacomo Falchetto but second-row Simone Fardin was shown a yellow card and from there New Zealand took total control.
Tocker and Lewai touched down and, although number eight Enoch Opoku Gyamfi powered over for a second Italy try, New Zealand scored twice more before the break through Findlay and Sinton.
Etuale, Norrie and Pahulu added to New Zealand’s try tally before David Luisato scored a consolation try for Italy, who will now take on Georgia in the ninth place semi-finals in Kutaisi.
POOL B
SCOTLAND 43-32 JAPAN: Scotland take second spot to tee up Argentina showdown
Scotland finished runners-up in Pool B following a highly-entertaining victory over Japan at AIA Arena in Kutaisi.
Fergus Pringle’s side knew their semi-final hopes had ended after New Zealand's defeat of Italy in the day's opening match, but this success over a feisty Japanese outfit marked their second win from three games after victory over Italy in round one.
Scotland, who will now face Los Pumitas in the fifth place semi-final, were rewarded for their early adventure by running in three tries inside the opening quarter through Matthew Fick, Daniel Kelly and Ollie Blyth-Lafferty.
Japan hit back through Koshi Tsumara before a try from hooker Joe Roberts – his third of the tournament – gave Scotland a bonus-point score shortly after the half-hour mark.
Sota Miura replied for Japan to leave the scored finely poised at 26-15 in Scotland’s favour at the break.
Despite Shinnosuke Uchida and Isa Fukada touching down either side of the hour mark, Scotland ran in three second-half tries through Jamie McAughtrie, Alex Bryden and Jake Dalziel to take the win.
Scotland will now face Argentina in the fifth place semi-finals in Tbilisi on Sunday, while Japan remain in Tbilisi to face USA in the 13th place semi-finals the same day.
POOL C
IRELAND 73-22 USA: Ireland romp to an emphatic win to end pool stage on a high
Charlie O’Shea and Sean David Walsh both scored hat-tricks as Ireland made it third time lucky to finish the pool stage on a high against USA at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi.
Andrew Browne’s men had lost to England and Argentina in their first two games but they cut loose in their first-ever Junior World Championship match against the USA, running in 11 tries in total.
Scrum-half Christoper Barrett opened the scoring and half-back partner O'Shea went on to claim a first-half treble with Walsh touching down twice before and Robert Carney also going over as half-time approached.
That gave Ireland a 45-3 interval lead and Walsh went on to claim his third try of the match with Adam Cooper, Daniel Ryan and Jack Deegan also getting on the scoresheet.
USA hit back with second-half scores from Finnian Love, Joseph Sarkees and Leo Keesler-Venables in a much-improved display after the break.
Ireland lost winger Charlie Molony to a second yellow card in the final quarter, a card later upgraded to red, but they still claimed the final score of the match through Deegan.
Green capped a fine display at full-back for Ireland with a 23-point haul after scoring a try and kicking nine conversions.
POOL C
ARGENTINA 38-40 ENGLAND: England eye semi-final date with South Africa after outgunning Los Pumitas in Tbilisi thriller
Four-time champions England hung on for a dramatic victory against Argentina at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi to clinch top spot in Pool C and a semi-final with defending champions South Africa.
Having already beaten Ireland and USA, Andy Titterrell’s men made it three bonus-point wins from three to register a fifth successive pool-stage victory over Los Pumitas at the Junior World Championship.
However, they were pushed all the way by a vibrant Argentina outfit who were outscored by six tries to five as England held on during a tense finale which saw them have two players sin-binned.
Argentina’s counter-attacking brilliance – a huge feature of this year’s tournament – came to the fore again when their inspirational captain Tomas Dande broke from deep for a superb opener.
England centre Will Knight then burst clear for a converted try with James Pater, Jimmy Staples and Aiden Ainsworth-Cave also going over before half-time.
Argentina scored again through Manuel Cuneo Camargo but also lost centre Benjamin Ordiz Yujnovsky to a red card and England edged clear after the break.
Ainsworth-Cave and Pater both completed braces but Los Pumitas scored their third and fourth tries through Bautista Lescano and the prolific Simon Pfister, the tournament’s leading try-scorer.
After England duo Elliot Williams and Knight were sin-binned in quick succession going into the final 10 minutes, Argentina scored again through Lescano and Pfister with his second – and seventh of the tournament – but Titterrell’s side held on despite Los Pumitas going through multiple phases with time up on the clock.
POOL D
FRANCE 34-29 AUSTRALIA: Les Bleuets show title pedigree after edging out Australia
Three-time Junior World Championship winners France secured their ninth semi-final appearance after edging out Australia in this enthralling Pool D decider.
Les Bleuets made it three wins from three after previous victories over Fiji and Spain to set up a last-four showdown with New Zealand and encourage French hopes of a fourth title.
Only New Zealand and England have been crowned champions more times than France and they showed their mettle to see off the Junior Wallabies, who will now face Wales in the fifth place semi-finals, after outscoring them by five tries to four.
Treyvon Pritchard gave Australia an early lead, but the response from Les Bleuets was emphatic. Their hugely influential flanker and captain Lucas Andjisseramatchi scored twice either side of a second French score from winger Melvyn Rates.
Luca Cleverley hit back for Chris Whitaker’s Junior Wallabies to leave the half-time score at 22-12 in France’s favour.
Gabin Garault and Baptiste Tilloles added to Les Bleuets’ tally after the break and, despite scoring twice more themselves through Wallace Charlie and Edwin Langi, Australia’s efforts fell just short.
They were not helped by yellow cards for second-rows Will Ross and Toby Brial but it was an incredible effort from both sets of players during an energy-sapping encounter.
POOL D
SPAIN 26-29 FIJI: Fiji win first pool match in 14 years after edging out Spain in thriller
Fiji took the spoils to leapfrog Spain at the foot of Pool D following a compelling encounter which saw them claim an historic victory.
The Fijians had not won a Junior World Championship pool match since beating Samoa 15-3 in the 2012 tournament in South Africa, but they had too much for a Spain side who battled hard throughout before succumbing to the Pacific islanders' customary attacking flair.
Spain will now take on Uruguay in the 13th place semi-final on Sunday while Fiji will face Ireland in the ninth place semi-final on Monday.
Andrew Tui Osborne’s side outscored Los Leones U20 by five tries to three and ran out worthy victors at the AIA Arena in Kutaisi.
Spain winger Pelayo Serrano put his side ahead early on before they were awarded a penalty try. Yet Fiji responded in style as second-row Francis Peters touched down before flanker Isoa Koroinawai seized centre stage with a quickfire double before half-time.
Spain hit back after the interval with a try from hooker Ivan Farace but they lost highly-rated centre Oriol Marsinyac Garcia to a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
From there, Fiji took full advantage with tries from Ratu Osea Dasalusalu and Sailosi Vodonaivalu to seal a memorable victory.
