Scotland match best-ever finish at Junior World Championship

WRAP: The penultimate day of the World Rugby Junior World Championship 2026 in Georgia on Friday proved to be an historic one as USA recorded their first-ever win in the tournament, beating Uruguay 39-15 in Kutaisi to secure 15th place.

Scotland also matched their best-ever finish of fifth – secured in 2017 when the tournament was last hosted in Georgia – after edging out Wales 28-21 in a thrilling encounter at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi.

Australia and Japan were the other winners on Friday, the Junior Wallabies beating Argentina 52-29 to secure seventh place and Japan coming out on top in an absorbing encounter with Spain in Kutaisi, the 34-26 victory enough to secure two wins in a single Junior World Championship for the first time.

The curtain will fall on the 2026 edition on Saturday with France meeting defending champions South Africa in the final at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi.

It will be the first time these sides, this year’s U20 Six Nations and U20 Rugby Championship winners, will meet in the title decider with the Junior Springboks bidding to defend their crown and France seeking a fourth title.

New Zealand and England will contest third place at the same venue, while Italy face Ireland for ninth place and Georgia and Fiji meet in the 11th place play-off in Kutaisi.

See below for Friday’s scores and scorers!

15th-place play-off

USA 39-15 Uruguay

The scorers:

For USA:
Tries: Stewart, Matelau, Cluff, Kirk, Hill
Cons: Cadden 3, Firebrace
Pens: Cadden, Firebrace

For Uruguay:
Tries: Perez 3

Teams:

USA U20: 15 Gavin Holder, 14 Marco Lapierre, 13 Dane Mitchell, 12 William Darbishire, 11 Sialeafuhia Ofa, 10 Declan Cadden, 9 Spencer Huntley (captain), 8 Papaseea Matelau, 7 Frank Finicle, 6 Harrison Cluff, 5 Lyndon Bailey, 4 Pierce Kelly, 3 Tyler Trower, 2 Aiden Stewart, 1 Colin Donnelly.
Replacements: 16 Salesi Kafovalu, 17 Sawyer Troupe, 18 Oliver Kirk, 19 Tanielu Talaepa, 20 Liam Hill, 21 Jameson Beatty, 22 Finnian Love, 23 Jack Firebrace.

Uruguay U20: 15 Bautista Menchaca, 14 Alfonso Fernandez, 13 Bruno Baccino, 12 Vicente Alvarez, 11 Bruno Primavesi, 10 Juan Francisco Pereira, 9 Pierre Cotarmanac’h, 8 Ignacio Merli (captain), 7 Alex Sonneveld, 6 Pedro Suarez, 5 Guillermo Curuchet, 4 Nicolas Mattsson, 3 Juan Manuel Sagario, 2 Sebastian Perez, 1 Dario Rodriguez.
Replacements: 16 Jose Candia Sciarra, 17 German Gonzalez, 18 Juan Francisco Bessio, 19 Felipe Costa, 20 Mateo Guarch, 21 Francisco Lawlor, 22 Mateo Ibarburu, 23 Nicolas Pittaluga.

Referee: David Vosalevu (Fiji)
Assistant referees: Morgan White (Hong Kong China), Mariam Goguadze (Georgia)
TMO: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)

Seven-place play-off

Argentina 29-52 Australia

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries: Pfister, Mallea, Cambiasso, Canedo
Cons: Laporte 3
Pen: Laporte

For Australia:
Tries: Greenfell 2, Fittler, Cleverley, Farr-Jones 2, Toby Brial, Swerling-Finaipepe
Cons: Bird 6

Teams:

Argentina U20: 15 Simón Pfister, 14 Bautista Lescano, 13 Ramón Fernández, 12 Pedro Coll, 11 Benjamín Ledesma Arocena, 10 Federico Serpa Laporte, 9 Juan Preumayr, 8 Basilio Canas, 7 Jerónimo Sorondo, 6 Tomás Dande (captain), 5 Bautista Benavides, 4 Joaquín Pascual Viale, 3 Bautista Salinas Mallea, 2 Manuel Cueno Camargo, 1 Benjamín Farias Cerioni.
Replacements: 16 Nicolas Cambiasso, 17 Laureano Diaz, 18 Federico Narvaez, 19 Tiziano Rocha, 20 Franco Mizawak, 21 Valentino Reggiardo, 22 Manuel Giannantonio, 23 Tomas Canedo.

Australia U20: 15 Wallace Charlie, 14 Taione Taka, 13 Zach Fittler, 12 Charlie Bird, 11 Tom Farr-Jones, 10 Finn Mackay (captain), 9 Sam Blank, 8 Eli Langi, 7 TJ Talaileva, 6 Luca Cleverley, 5 Isaac Fonua, 4 Toby Brial, 3 Edwin Langi, 2 John Greenfell, 1 Jacob Job.
Replacements: 16 Ewald Kruger, 17 Kingbenjamin Swerling-Finaipepe, 18 Lehopoame Leota, 19 Edward Baxter, 20 Marshall Le Maitre, 21 Angus Grover, 22 Jonty Fowler, 23 Cooper Watters.

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)
TMO: Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)

13th-place play-off

Japan 34-26 Spain

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries: Fukada, Iwakura, Uchida, Otabe, Hyakutake, Suda
Cons: Niwa 2

For Spain:
Tries: Cuesta 2, Farace
Cons: Toca

Teams:

Japan U20: 15 Ryuto Koga, 14 Shinnosuke Uchida, 13 Rio Iwakura, 12 Tsunehidemichi Fukuda, 11 Isa Fukada, 10 Takeru Niwa, 9 Keigo Sato, 8 Akihiro Tsubone (captain), 7 Yuta Otabe, 6 Riku Fujikubo, 5 Masato Hyakutake, 4 Kotaro Kumagae, 3 Hurato Sasaki, 2 Sota Miura, 1 Song Ha Ri.
Replacements: 16 Koshi Tsumura, 17 Keigo Aruga, 18 Keitatsu Motoyama, 19 Taiga Yamazaki, 20 Masato Yanase, 21 Kohaku Suda, 22 Yuki Kobayashi, 23 Gentaro Sakata.

Spain U20: 15 Malakai Hafoka Toca, 14 Telmo Fisher Obieta, 13 Marcos López Camano (captain), 12 Oriol Marsinyac Garcia, 11 Pelayo Serrano, 10 Mateo Antem, 9 Bernat Fernández, 8 Marcal Carreras Cuesta (captain), 7 Unax Salvador, 6 Miguel Narvarte, 5 Unax Carballo, 4 Max Artigas, 3 Solomon Ibeoba, 2 Iván Farace, 1 Daniel Chico Ayo.
Replacements: 16 Mauro Del Campo, 17 Joan Barcenilla D’Onghia, 18 Daniel Navarro, 19 Rocklyn Kenneally, 20 Bosco Cattaneo, 21 Alfonso Enciso, 22 Inigo Rapallo, 23 Manex Pujana Lendinez.

Referee: Saba Makharadze (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Luke Rogan (USA), Mariam Goguadze (Georgia)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Fifth-place play-off

Scotland 28-21 Wales

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries: Blyth-Lafferty, Kesterton, Roberts, Kelly
Cons: Dalziel 4

For Wales:
Tries: Evans, Pritchard, Edwards
Con: Jones 2, Lucas

Teams:

Scotland U20: 15 Rory McHaffie, 14 Dan Kelly, 13 Henry Kesterton, 12 Alex Bryden, 11 Nairn Moncrieff, 10 Jake Dalziel, 9 Asa Stewart-Harris, 8 Harvey Preston, 7 Jack Utterson, 6 Christian Lindsay, 5 Dan Halkon, 4 Alfie Blackett, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Joe Roberts (captain), 1 Oliver McKenna.
Replacements: 16 Jamie McAughtrie, 17 Jamie Stewart, 18 Jackson Rennie, 19 Fin Mather, 20 Oliver Finlayson-Russell, 21 Matthew Fick, 22 Calum Jessop, 23 Ewan Caven.

Wales U20: 15 Lewis Edwards, 14 Rhys Cummings, 13 Osian Lewis, 12 Steffan Emanuel (co-captain), 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Carwyn Leggatt Jones, 9 Sion Davies, 8 Deian Gwynne (co-captain), 7 Caio James, 6 Tom Cottle, 5 Osian Justin Williams, 4 Will Evans, 3 Jac Pritchard, 2 Tom Howe, 1 George Leyland.
Replacements: 16 Oscar Thomas, 17 Hudson Nevin, 18 Yestyn Cook, 19 Alex Ridgway, 20 Sam Morgan, 21 Cai Gealy, 22 Lloyd Lucas, 23 Bailey Cutts.

Referee: Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina)
Assistant referees: George Selwood (England), Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)
TMO: Matt Rodden (Hong Kong China)