U20s: England cruise to third title

England skipper Harry Mallinder grabbed two tries.

Just hours after the England senior side had completed a sweep of the Test series against the Wallabies in Australia, their junior side provided further evidence of a bright future for the national set-up.

Joe Marchant also scored two tries as flyhalf Mallinder added five conversions and a penalty as the hosts outplayed first-time finalists Ireland who had trailed 21-0 at the break.

Forwards Callum Chick and Huw Taylor also scored England, while Ireland replied through hooker Adam McBurney, centre Shane Daly and Max Deegan.

All the action for the final day:

Ireland 21-45 England – Cup Final

The Final has got off to frenetic start,  with both sides making errors.

The deadlock was broken whenJoe Marchant weaved his way to the line from 30 metres out to give England the lead on 13 minutes.

England's domination at scrum time resulted in try number two. While Marchant's try was a thing of beauty this was all about forward muscle. The home pack put in an almighty shove to splinter the Irish eight and No.8 Callum Chick dotted down over the line.

England went into the break 21 points to the good, lock Huw Taylor having finished off a fine move involving Harry Mallinder and Johnny Williams to score try number three.

England turned defence into attack with devastating effect. Conor O'Brien's wonderful break from his own 22 ends when he lost the ball on halfway and England seized their chance to put the ball through the handed to Joe Marchant on the left flank. Marchant handed off the would-be tackler and passed to Johnny Williams who found Harry Mallinder on his inside shoulder for another wonderful try.

Ireland refused to lie down and accept defeat, Shane Daly rounding off a quite brilliant counter-attack from fullback Jacob Stockdale with their second try in the corner. While that was a length of the field effort, Ireland's first try came from a couple of metres out when hooker Adam McBurney mauled his way over on 46 minutes.

Ireland scrumhalf Stephen Kerins was yellow-carded for not retreating 10 after opposite number, Harry Randall, attempted to take a quick tap penalty.  Harry Mallinder punished them further by kicking the three points on offer for the penalty.

Joe Marchant followed in the footsteps of Harry Mallinder in bagging a brace of tries. Mallinder was the provider this time around as his cross-field kick bounced kindly for Harlequins centre Marchant who gathers the ball at pace and spins out of the fullback's attempted tackle to cruise under the posts.

Max Deegan grabbed a consolation try for Ireland at the death.

The scorers:

For Ireland:

Tries: McBurney, Deegan, Daly

Cons: McPhillips 2, Connon

For England:

Tries: Mallinder 2, Marchant 2, Chick, Taylor

Cons: Mallinder 5, Green

Pen: Mallinder

Teams:

England: 15 Max Malins, 14 Sam Aspland-Robinson, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Harry Mallinder (captain), 9 Max Green, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Will Evans, 6 George Nott, 5 Huw Taylor, 4 Stan South, 3 Billy Walker, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Lewis Boyce.

Replacements: 16 Charlie Piper, 17 Tom West, 18 Will Stuart, 19  Andrew Kitchener, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Max Wright, 23 Ollie Thorley.

Ireland: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Matthew Byrne, 13 Shane Daly, 12 Conor O'Brien, 11 Hugo Keenan, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Stephen Kerins, 8 Max Deegan, 7 David Aspil, 6 Greg Jones, 5 James Ryan, 4 Sean O'Connor, 3 Ben Betts, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Andrew Porter.

Replacements: 16 Vincent O'Brien, 17 James Bollard, 18 Adam Coyle, 19 Evan Mintern, 20 Kelvin Brown, 21 Niall Saunders, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Jimmy O'Brien.

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Thomas Charabas (France)

TMO: John Mason (Wales)

Argentina 49-19 South Africa  – Third-place play-off

Los Pumitas captain and centre Juan Cruz Mallia crossed twice in the first half as his side chased third place.

However, South Africa crossed the line three times themselves to lead by two at the break.

Domingo Miotti landed monster 48-metre penalty to continue Argentina's forward momentum.

Mariano Romanini's try at the start of the second half and six points from Miotti's boot meant Los Pumitas racked up 23 unanswered points against South Africa.

Argentina captain Juan Cruz Mallia scored his hat-trick try at the death, as Los Pumitas claimed a memorable 49-19 victory over South Africa, and third place in the U20 Championship for the first time in their history.

Domingo Miotti missed his only conversion of the match as the South Americans fall just shy of posting a half-century of points on the well-beaten Junior Springboks.

Scorers:

South Africa:

Tries: Libbok, Van der Merwe, Campher

Cons: Bosch 2

Argentina:

Tries: Baldunciel, Mallia 3, Dominguez, Romanini

Cons: Miotti 5

Pens: Miotti 3

Teams:

South Africa: South Africa: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Stedman Gans, 13 Franco Naude, 12 JT Jackson, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9  Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Junior Pokomela (captain), 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Zain Davids, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Ruben de Villiers, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Jan-Henning Campher, 1 Franco van den Berg.

Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 19 Eduard Zandberg, 20 Denzel Hill, 21 James Hall, 22 Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Keanu Vers.

Argentina: 15 Martín Elías, 14 José Barros Sosa, 13 Juan Cruz Mallía (captain), 12 Teo Castiglioni, 11 Julián Domínguez, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Lautaro Bazán, 8 Facundo Domínguez, 7 Conrado Roura, 6 Vicente Boronat, 5 Ignacio Calas, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Gaspar Baldunciel, 1 Juan Pablo Enríquez.

Replacements: 16 Román Pretz, 17 Rubén Ricco, 18 Gonzalo Del Pazo, 19 Nahuel Milán, 20 Mariano Romanini, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Tomás Malanos, 13 Bautista Delguy.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Phil Watters (England)

TMO: John Mason (Wales)

Australia 24-55 New Zealand – Fifth-place play-off

New Zealand deservedly got the first try in the fifth-place play-off against Oceania rivals Australia. Scott Robertson's side dominated the early exchanges and after piling the pressure on the Aussie defence with a series of pick-and-goes under the shadow of the posts, the ball was spread two out from the ruck to No.8 Marino Makaele Tu'u, who powers over from a few metres out.

Lock Quinten Strange wriggled over from close range to score New Zealand's third try following concerted pressure on the Aussie line. He was the third try scorer of the match wearing a thick bandage on his head. New Zealand's earlier scores came from Marino Mikaele Tu'u and Hapakuki Moala-Liava'a. Australia's try was an absolute belter, Campbell Magnay finishing off a move that started from well inside the Aussie half

Australia muscled their way back into this one using the forwards to level the scores at 21-all at the break. Loosehead Faalalie Sione crossed for the Aussies' second try from a pick-and-go, before a powerful shunt at scrum time led to New Zealand conceding a penalty try on the stroke of half-time.

New Zealand reclaimed the lead nine minutes into the second half after replacement forward Isaia Walker-Leawere catches the Aussie flyhalf's attempted dink over the onrushing defence and strolled home unopposed from 30 metres. Jordie Barrett kicked the conversion to maintain his perfect kicking record.

Shortly after setting one a try for replacement hooker Asafo Aumua Peter Umaga-Jensen scored one himself. Great counter-rucking sealed possession for New Zealand and the ball was quickly moved from right to left, via two long cut-out passed, to Umaga-Jensen who cut back inside Australia's drift defence to score in the corner.

New Zealand claimed fifth place after a sensational final quarter of rugby. Peter Jensen-Umaga set up one and scored another and there were also tries for Patelesio Tomkinson and Jonathan Taumateine.

Scorers:

For New Zealand:

Tries: Aumua, Umaga-Jensen, Mikaele Tu'u, Moala-Liava'a, Strange, Taumateine, Tomkinson, Walker-Leaware

Cons: Barrett 6

For Australia:

Tries: C Magnay, F Sione, Penalty try

Cons: J Tuttle, N Jooste

Pen: Jooste

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Caleb Makene, 13 Patelesio Tomkinson, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 10 Stephen Perofeta, 9 Sam Nock, 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u, 7 Mitchell Jacobson , 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 Hamish Dalzell, 4 Quinten Strange, 3 Sosefo Kautai, 2 Leni Apisai (captain), 1 Ayden Johnstone.

Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Sean Paranihi, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Hapakuki Moala Liava'a, 20 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u, 21 Jonathan Taumateine, 22 TJ Va'a, 23 Orbyn Leger.

Australia: 15 Jack Maddocks, 14 Liam Jurd, 13 Campbell Magnay, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Liam McNamara, 10 Nick Jooste, 9 James Tuttle (captain), 8 Maclean Jones, 7 Liam Wright, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Lukhan Tui, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Jordan Uelese, 1 Faalelei Sione.

Replacements: 16 Ed Craig, 17 Richie Asiata, 18 Shambeckler Vui, 20 Harry Hockings, 21 Rob Leota, 22 Harry Nucifora, 23 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 24 Simon Kennewell.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

Assistant referees: Ian Tempest (England), Paul Dix (England)

TMO: Trevor Fisher (England)

Scotland 19-42 Wales – Seventh-place play-off

It was first blood to Wales with Jared Rosser dotting the ball down to get them off to a flyer in the 12th minute. Lock Bryce Morgan took the ball forward towards the Scottish line and with the defence in the ruck, the ball was shipped to the wing for Rosser with extra numbers out wide.

After a promising opening few minutes from Scotland it was all Wales. It was another tip of the cap to Wales' forward pack who work it closer and closer to the try line before Dillon Lewis crashed over to double Wales' lead.

It was all about Adam Hastings in that attack, he first makes the break that takes them within five metres of the Welsh try line, before shifting the ball wide to Robbie Nairn who dotted down for his third try of the tournament in his third match. Hastings added the extra with a fantastic conversion.

Jarrod Evans collected the ball inside his own 22 before running the entire length of the field to score Wales' third try and relieve his side of the pressure Scotland have put on them since scoring their first try. Footwork, speed, dummies and hand-offs, Evans showed great skill to score that one, and has the composure to step up and convert it to take Wales' lead back to 14.

It was utter dominance from Wales in the second half. First flank Shane Lewis-Hughes picked the ball up from the bottom of a ruck to dart over following good work from Jarred Rosser, before Joe Thomas showed great footwork to slice through the Scottish defence for a second try in two minutes.

Hooker Lewis Anderson crashed over the line after a sustained period of attack for Scotland. They are having to work hard for their tries but there was no denying their effort. Having thrown it in from the line out, Anderson joined the back of the maul to dot down. Hastings missed the conversion but there was a glimmer of hope.

Wales finished seventh in the World Rugby U20 Championship, outscoring Scotland by six tries to three in an impressive 42-19 win.

Scorers:

For Scotland:

Tries: Nairn, Anderson, Craig

Cons: Hastings 2

For Wales:

Tries: Lewis, Evans, Thomas, Lewis-Hughes, Gage, Rosser

Cons: Evans 5, Jones

Teams:

Wales: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Harri Millard, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams,8 Harrison Keddie (captain), 7 Morgan Sieniawski, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Bryce Morgan, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dafydd Hughes, 1 Corey Domachowski.

Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Kieron Assiratti, 19 Leon Brown, 20 Kieran Williams, 21 Declan Smith, 22 Daniel Jones, 23 Joe Gage.

Scotland: 15 Ruairi Howarth, 14 Robbie Nairn, 13 Tom Galbraith, 12 Matt McPhillips, 11 Cameron Gray, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Ally Miller, 7 Lewis Wynne, 6 Alex Craig, 5 Scott Cummings (captain), 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Callum Sheldon, 2 Lewis Anderson, 1 George Thornton.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Renwick, 17 Dan Elkington, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Stephen Ainslie, 20 Scott Burnside, 21 Hugh Fraser, 22 Lewis Berg, 23 Ben Robbins.

Referee: Graham Cooper (Australia)

Assistant referees: Elia Rizzo (Italy), Andrew Jackson (England)

TMO: Geoff Warren (England)

Georgia 24-27 France – Ninth-place play-off

France held off a spirited Georgia side to finish ninth at the World Rugby U20 Championship, their worst ever finish at the competition.

Despite the loss, Georgia will head into next year's tournament as hosts safe in the knowledge they will have garnered some new fans over the past five match days with some powerful running rugby.

Les Bleuets started the match brightly with some great interlinking play down the right wing resulting in a try from left-wing Gabriel Ngandebe. With the conversion and a later penalty slotted by Anthony Belleau, Georgia were reduced to 14 men after Otari Giorgadze was sent to the sin bin, but managed to claw back three points through a penalty from scrum-half Gela Aprasidze, making it 10-3 to France at half-time.

With the momentum in France's favour, replacement Antoine Dupont added three points before second row Theo Hannoyer charged off the back of a maul to go over. The additional two points from Dupont left Georgia trailing 20-3 with under 20 minutes remaining. However the powerful Georgian scrum that has caused issues for every side they've faced in their debut tournament, forced a penalty try shortly after, but Dupont again dampened the comeback with a great scything run to score and convert.

At 27-10 and with five minutes remaining, Giorgadze made up for his earlier yellow card with a quick tap on the France five-metre line to bundle over. Aprasidze added the extras before Luka Goginava s

Scorers:

Georgia:

Tries: Giorgadze, Goginava, Penalty try

Cons: Aprasidze 3

Pen: Aprasidze

France:

Tries: Dupont, Hannoyer, Ngandebe

Cons: Dupont 2, Belleau

Pens: Dupont, Belleau

Teams: Not available

Referee: Juan Sylvestre (Argentina)

Assistant referees: Paul Burton (England), Ross Campbell (England)

TMO: David Rose (England)

Italy 41-17 Japan  – Eleventh-place play-off

After surviving by the skin of their teeth in the 2015 edition of the tournament, Italy comfortably staved off the threat of relegation from World Rugby U20 Championship 12 months on with a convincing 41-17 win over Japan in the 11th-place play-off.

A brace of tries apiece from winger Andrea Bronzini, hooker Marco Manfredi and number eight Giovanni Licata saw Italy maintain their top tier status. Japan, however, will now be replaced by this year's World Rugby U20 Trophy winners Samoa at the U20 Championship 2017 in Georgia.

After Taisetsu Kanai's sixth-minute penalty had given Japan a 3-0 lead, Italy scored when Bronzini got on the end of a well-executed cross-field chip from fly-half Leonardo Mantelli. Manfredi added a second from a driven line-out, before Japan gave a glimpse of their attacking potential when good hands set Tomoya Yamamura on a 50-metre run to the line.

Italy had the final say of the half when flanker Giovani Pettinelli burst down the blindside off the back of an advancing scrum. Pettinelli found Mantelli, who gathered in his own grubber kick, after some suspect defending, to put Italy 20-10 up at the break.

The second half was largely one-way traffic as Italy dominated the physical battle, Licata brushing aside some weak tackling to score twice in the space of nine minutes. Licata's opposite number, Tevita Tatafu, grabbed a late consolation for Japan while Italy were down to 14 men following a yellow card to Luca Sperandio but it was too little, too late.

Scorers:

For Italy:

Tries: Manfredi 2, Licata 2, Bronzini 2

Cons: Mantelli 4

Pen: Mantelli

Japan:

Tries: Tatafu, Yamamura

Cons: Kanai 2

Pen: Kanai

Teams: Not available

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)

Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Andrew Jackson (England)

TMO: Geoff Warren (England)

Source: @WorldRugby