Junior Boks leave Baby Blacks behind

South Africa Under-20 pulled away in the second half to secure a bonus-point 33-24 victory over the Baby Blacks in North Harbour on Friday.

The visitors had trailed 17-14 at half-time, but the unrelenting power of their impressive pack told in the second half as they overwhelmed the hosts who are now under pressure to make it out of the pool stage of the competition.

It was a victory built on forward dominance, with the Junior Springboks winning multiple tightheads at scrum-time and taking plenty of line-out ball off New Zealand who went down despite a hat-trick from Blues flyer Tevita Li.

The South Africans looked for territory early through the boots of halfbacks JP Smith and Handre Pollard and the Baby Blacks showed a willingness to run the ball from their own half in response.

However, the South African pack dominated the early set-pieces, winning a tighthead at a scrum and two penalties from powerful line-out drives which New Zealand did not have much answer for.

However, the home side would have the lead as they decided to start kicking and won a turnover in the 22 which was swung wide to Li who finished in the corner.

Li struck again soon afterwards, an amazing individual effort which saw him brush off a few defenders down the left wing and then cut back inside at full tilt to score under the poles and put New Zealand 14-6 up.

South Africa suffered a further blow when flank Jean-Luc du Preez was knocked out cold, but they came out firing and hit back with a try of their own which followed a Handre Pollard to level the game up.

An overthrown line-out from the Baby Blacks was snapped up by No.8 Aidon Davis who thundered forward and got a great offload away to tighthead Dayan van der Westhuizen. The ball was sent wide urgently, resulting in a massive overlap and some clever passing saw Jesse Kriel score in the corner.

However, the hosts would take a slender 17-14 lead into half-time, thanks to a Simon Hickey penalty just before the end of a pulsating 40 minutes.

The visitors made a determined start to the second half, driving the ball deep into the 22 a few times before another tighthead saw Pollard crash over from Jessie Kriel's pop pass. The conversion put them 21-17 up, and Pollard had his forward pack to thank once again.

The South Africans kept the pressure squarely on, and once the forwards had worked their way into the corner again it was sent wide with a long Pollard pass putting Lloyd Greeff over in the corner.

That gave them a valuable 26-17 buffer, and with 20 minutes to play the home side needed a response but they were driven back into their own half by some superb defence.

Instead it was the visitors who would score next, with fullback Warwick Gelant going over in the corner after Baby Blacks lock James Tucker was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements in a well-beaten forward pack.

Li got his third try from a late counter-attack, but it was not enough to salvage a bonus point for the home side who are now up against it.

The scorers:

For New Zealand U20:

Tries: Li 3

Cons: Hickey 3

Pen: Hickey

South Africa U20:

Tries: J. Kriel, Pollard, Greeff, Gelant

Cons: Pollard 2

Pens: Pollard 3

Yellow card: James Tucker (NZ – 71 mins, Repeated infringements)

New Zealand U20: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Vincent Tavae Aso, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jackson Gardon-Bachop, 12 Jackson Gardon-Bachop, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Simon Hickey, (captain), 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Mathew Peni, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 6 Tom Sanders, 5 Geoffrey Cridge, 4 James Tucker, 3 Tau Koloamatangi, 2 Epalahame Faiva, 1 Atunaisa Moli.

Replacements: 16 James O’Reilly, 17 Scott Mellow, 18 Timothy Cadwallader, 19 Kyle Harris, 20 Joshua Dickson, 21 Joshua Renton, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Tauasosi Tuimavave.

South Africa U20: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Lloyd Greeff, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Handré Pollard (captain), 9 JP Smith, 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Victor Sekekete, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Duhan van der Merwe.

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)

Assistant referees: Joaquin Montes (Uruguay), Brendan Pickerill (New Zealand)

TMO: Chris Watt (New Zealand)

England U20 38-24 Australia U20

Defending champions England U20 made it two wins from two beating Australia 38-24 in North Harbour, under the watchful eyes of members of the senior squad.

Two tries apiece for Henry Taylor and Nathan Earle and one for Gus Jones gave England the win, while Billy Burns kicked five conversions and one penalty.

Australia had won all four of their preparation matches as well as their opener against Argentina on Monday. England, however, proved too strong on the day as they outscored the Aussies five tries to three.

Australia took an early lead in the corner through wing Andrew Kellaway, which was brilliantly converted by Jake McIntyre with England wing Nathan Earle bearing down.

But England hit back with a quick double from scrum half Taylor. First he sniped between two  from close range before No.8 James Chisholm found him on the inside to dive over.

Australia made it 17-10 after 30 minutes with a McIntyre penalty before a brilliant piece of skill from Nick Tompkins found Saracens teammate Earle, who powered his way over the line to give England a 24-10 advantage.

Australia hit back through Kellaway, who grabbed his second try before the break, but England started the second 40 with a bang as Jones dived over for the seventh try of his England U20 career.

Again Australia came back fighting though, and scored through McIntyre to make it a seven-point game at 31-24.

However, Earle killed off the contest when he crossed for his second try – and fifth of the competition – in the corner following some more neat work from Tompkins.

Captain Maro Itoje said: "Australia are a top side and coming into the game we had nothing but the utmost respect for them – they threw a lot at us but I thought we coped well.

"We really pulled together and showed a lot of heart and passion to get that result. I'm really happy with how the team performed, but again we feel that there's still more to give.

"It was great to have the support of the seniors at the game. That meant a massive amount to the boys and we're looking forward to watching their game tomorrow and then taking on Argentina on Tuesday."

Australian coach Adrian Thompson praised the efforts of his team and their resilience to bounce back time and again throughout the 80 minutes.

"I thought the boys played with a lot of passion and did well to stay in the game, considering the pressure England was mounting on us.

"Our scrum was solid and we looked dangerous in attack off the set piece but put ourselves on the back foot with a few missed tackles in defence."

The scorers:

For England:

Tries: Taylor 2, Earle 2, Jones

Cons: Burns 5

Pen: Burns

For Australia:

Tries: Kellaway 2, McIntyre

Cons: McIntyre 3

Pen: McIntyre

England U20: 15 Howard Packman, 14 Henry Purdy, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 Joel Conlon, 7 Gus Jones, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Paul Hill, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi.

Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Alex Lundberg, 18 Harry Rudkin, 19 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Aaron Morris.

Australia U20: 15 Jonah Placid, 14 Brad Lacey, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Jimmy Stewart, 11 Andrew Kellaway, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Ross Haylett-Petty, 7 Rowan Perry, 6 Sean McMahon (captain), 5 Tom Staniforth, 4 Matt Philip, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Harry Scoble, 1 Rory O’Connor.

Replacements: 16 Feliti Kaitu’u, 17 Cameron Orr, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Jack Payne, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Angus Pulver, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Luke Burton.

Argentina 26-29 Italy

Italy caused the first shock of the tournament by handing sixth seeds Argentina their second defeat thanks to captain Filippo Buscema's boot.

The Azzurrini left coach Alessandro Troncon almost lost for words afterwards, having time and time again edged themselves in front in the dying minutes through Buscema and then held firm to prevent Argentina sneaking the win.

First half tries from Gabriele di Guilio – whose twin brother Daniele played on the wing – and Lorenzo Maria Bruno gave Italy the lead at half-time.

They were never headed after that, although Patricio Fernandez three times kicked Los Pumitas level. Argentina had a chance to tie things up with less than two minutes to go, but Fernandez went for the corner and Italy's defence held firm.

Troncon said: "I am very happy. I am  very proud of these guys. The boys needed this, they played a great game of rugby and were mentally tough. We wanted to win this match and we stayed mentally tough.

"You can see at times these players don't believe in themselves so a result like this is fantastic for the team. Our defence was good at the end – still lots to work on, especially around the offside, but they grew and showed the belief to win."

The scorers:

For Argentina:

Tries: Ramirez, Ezcurra,

Cons: Fernandez 2

Pens: Fernandez 4

For Italy:

Tries: Giulio, Bruno

Cons: Buscema 2

Pens: Buscema 4

DG: Buscema

Teams:

Argentina: 15 Joaquin Riera, 14 Federico Gimenez, 13 Santiago Alvarez, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Rodrigo Etchart, 10 Patricio Fernandez (captain), 9 Juan Bernardini, 8 Santiago Montagner, 7 Jose Deheza, 6 Tomas Lezana, 5 Guido Pagadizabal, 4 Vittorio Rosti, 3 Tomas Ramirez, 2 Ignacio Calles, 1 Facundo Gigena.

Replacements: 16 Juan Sanchez, 17 Ariel Del Cerro, 18 Felipe Arregui, 19 Ignacio Larrague, 20 Santiago Portillo, 21 Lautaro Velez, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Emiliano Boffelli.

Italy: 15 Gabriele Di Giulio, 14 Daniele Di Giulio, 13 Mattia Bellini, 12 Matteo Gabbianelli, 11 Lorenzo Bruno, 10 Filippo Buscema (captain), 9 Maicol Azzolini, 8 Matteo Cornelli, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Renato Giammarioli, 5 Andrea Trotta, 4 Riccardo Michieletto, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Adriano Daniele, 1 Francesco Vento.

Replacements: 16 Derrick Appiah, 17 Marco Silva, 18 Paolo Buonfiglio, 19 Filippo Scalvi, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Simone Parisotto, 22 Giacomo De Santis, 23 Gabriele Manganiello.  

Referee: Matt O'Brien (Australia)

Assistant referees: Aki Aso (Japan), Paul Williams (New Zealand)

TMO: Chris Watt (New Zealand)

Wales 21-35 Ireland

Wales suffered a disappointing first defeat in the Junior World Championship going down 35-21 at the hands of Ireland in Pukokohe.

Tries from Tyler Morgan, a penalty try and James Benjamin had Byron Hayward's side leading 21-17 early in the second half. However, Ireland finished strongly and made up for their defeat at the hands of France with 18 unanswered points.

It was a far from inspiring start for Wales with Ireland rushing in to a 14-0 lead inside as many minutes. First, a mix up between Joshua Adams and Ashley Evans allowed Ireland to establish themselves in the Wales 22. Tighthead prop Rory Burke took up the ball and powered his way over for outside half Ross Byrne to convert.

Wales, surprisingly, were experiencing one or two difficulties at scrum time and when referee Federico Anselmi penalised them for a second time, yards from the Ireland line, a second try ensued. Captain and No.8 Jack O'Donoghue tapped the free kick and drove to the line allowing Byrne to send in Garry Ringrose for a try that was, once again, converted.

Stung in to action, Wales found their feet and a series of breaks deep into Irish territory brought their reward in the 21st minute. A driving maul allowed scrum half Luc Jones time to feed wing Morgan who came in from the blindside. The Newport and Dragons wing flew into midfield and outstripped the Irish defence for fellow Dragon O'Brien to convert.

A Byrne penalty redressed the balance, but by now Wales were beginning to get to grips with the set piece and Ireland were starting to experience difficulty. Argentine referee Anselmi awarded the young Welshman a series of penalties in the Ireland 22, shortly before half time, and finally ran out of patience with prop Peter Dooley and sent the loosehead for 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Two further scrum penalties later and the official pointed between the posts for a penalty try, O'Brien converting taking the half time score to 17-14 to the Irish. A minute into the second half, Ireland were down to 13 when wing Alex Wootton was carded for dropping his knees into the back of O'Brien who had fallen to the floor to pick up the ball from a kick on half way.

A wonderful break from Will Boyde set up Wales for their next opportunity, but they were unable to make their numerical advantage count initially as Ireland prevented quick release. However, captain Steffan Hughes opted against a kick for goal and the side was rewarded for their ambition at a scrum close to the Irish line when No.8 Benjamin controlled a free-wheeling scrum to touch down. O'Brien converted for good measure.

Ireland were far from finished and when replacement Tom Williams missed touch, the ball was worked into the Wales 22 for Ringrose to reach out and touch down. Byrne converted and added a penalty to give Ireland a six point lead as the game moved into the final quarter.

When Jack Dixon was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle, Byrne missed the ensuing penalty and Wales were temporarily off the hook, albeit down to 14 men.

Unfortunately, Byrne found his range nine minutes from time and the nine point gap was too much for Wales to close. In fact it was Ireland who scored again, four minutes from time when Ringrose was again to the fore as fullback Cian Kelleher raced in at the corner.

The scorers:

For Wales:

Tries: Morgan, penalty try, Benjamin

Cons: O'Brien 3

For Ireland:

Tries: Burke, Ringrose 2, Kelleher

Cons: Byrne 3

Pens: Byrne 3

Teams:

Wales U20: 15 Ashley Evans, 14 Tyler Morgan 13 Steffan Hughes (captain), 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Joshua Adams, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Luc Jones, 8 James Benjamin, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Nicky Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith.

Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Callum Lewis, 19 Scott Andrews, 20 Scott Matthews, 21 Tom Williams, 22 Ethan Davies, 23 Afon Bagshaw.

Ireland U20: 15 Cian Kelleher, 14 Ciaran Gaffney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Jack O'Donoghue(captain), 7 Frankie Taggart, 6 Peadar Timmins, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Darragh Moloney, 3 Rory Burke, 2 Max Abbott, 1 Peter Dooley.

Replacements: 16 Dylan Donnellan, 17 Denis Coulson, 18 Oisin Heffernan, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Diarmaid Dee, 21 Ryan Foley, 22 Conor McKeon, 23 Harrison Brewer.

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa, Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)

France 37-5 Fiji

France stuttered through the opening half against Fiji before turning an eight-point lead into a convincing victory with five second-half tries, including one from Arthur Bonneval whose older brother Hugo will play for the senior team against Australia on Saturday.

With scrumhalf Thibault Daubagna catching the eye just as Baptiste Serin had in Round One, France didn't look back after they were awarded a penalty try within minutes of the restart.

Fiji at times showed glimpses of Sevens-like attack but they could only manage a consolation try through Vasikali Mudu with time up on the clock and with a man down after Maika Baleinaloto had been sent off.

France captain Francois Cros said: "Yes we are happy but in this match the first half was not really good, so we are happy but we have to work for the next match.I think they scored because we were tired at the end of the match, it's not good for us but it was a good game."

The scorers:

For France:

Tries: Daubagna, Lespinasse, Fontaine, Courcoul, Bonneval, penalty try

Cons: Daubagna 2

Pen: Daubagna

For Fiji:

Try: Mudu

Teams:

France: 15 Valentin Saurs, 14 Arthur Bonneval, 13 Xavier Mignot, 12 Francois Fontaine, 11 Lucas Blanc, 10 Francois Bouvier, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Jean-Blaise Lespinasse, 7 Valentin Destruels, 6 Jean Thomas, 5 Jean Baptiste Singer (captain), 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Tommy Raynaud, 2 Florian Ardiaca, 1 Youssef Amrouni.

Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Oleg Ishchenko, 18 Simon Courcoul, 19 Arthur Iturria, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Lucas Meret, 23 Pierre Justes.

Fiji: 15 Livinai Tuicakau, 14 Aisake Rokobuli, 13 Semi Camaisala, 12 Adrea Cocagi, 11 Orisi Nawaqaliva, 10 Josese Kurukava, 9 Marika Tivitivi, 8 Vincent Sosefo, 7 Vasikali Mudu, 6 Ameniasi Natuiyaga, 5 Simione Naiduki, 4 Lote Nasiga, 3 Apolosi Ranawai, 2 Maikeli Sivo (captain), 1 Aseri Robarobalevu.

Replacements: 16 Wilisoni Lagi, 17 Jack Dreunimolea, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Paula Bukavece, 20 Atonio Qio, 21 Leone Nawai, 22 Maika Baleinaloto, 23 Poasa Waqanibau.

Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania)

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)

TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)

Scotland 18-27 Samoa

Two tries in four minutes early in the second half gave Samoa the breathing space they needed to secure a first win of the tournament over Scotland.

First Nathaniel Apa ran in after a great pop pass from his centre partner Paul Ah Him and the flyhalf William Talataina Mu picked up one handed and stepped the cover defence to go over unchallenged.

With the Samoan supporters making plenty of noise in the crowd, along with pupils from Wesley High School and Rosehill Primary School who were given time off to come to the match, the team proved that their performance against New Zealand on day one was no one-off and then treated their fans to a Siva Tau as a thank you.

There was one milestone reached by Scotland with Jamie Farndale's try in the first half drawing him level with New Zealand's Zac Guildford and Andrew Conway of Ireland as the leading try scorers in Junior World Championship history with 10.

Samoa captain Henry Stowers said: "Well we didn't want to disappoint them. We've got a good crowd out here and we got good support so the boys wanted to put in a good performance for out Samoan family and also the school kids out here supporting us."

The scorers:

For Scotland:

Tries: Farndale, Pecquer, Ritchie

Pen: Hutchinson

For Samoa:

Tries: Kueffner, Apa, Talataina Mu 2

Cons: Talataina Mu 3

Pens: Talataina Mu 2

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Damien Hoyland, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Blair Hutchison, 12 Neil Herron, 11 Sam Pecquer, 10 Rory Hutchinson, 9 Alex Glashan, 8 Tommy Spinks (captain), 7 Gabriel Carroll, 6 James Ritchie, 5 Glen Young, 4 Andy Cramond, 3 Darcy Rae, 2 Sam James, 1 Phil Cringle.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Jack Cosgrove, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Gavin Lowe, 23 Christopher Dean.

Samoa: 15 Luteru Laulala, 14 Joseph Ikenasio, 13 Nathaniel Apa, 12 Paul Ah Him, 11 Harry Luteru, 10 William Talataina Mu, 9 Emil Pittman, 8 Richard Mariota, 7 Henry Stowers (captain), 6 Jotham Wrampling, 5 Cameron Skelton, 4 Giovanni Kueffner, 3 Etimani Sului, 2 Leif Schwenke, 1 Fereti Saaga.

Replacements: 16 Ieremia Mataena, 17 Andrew Lemalu, 18 Louis Kapeteni, 19 Ezra Meleisea, 20 Joe Lee, 21 Mark Talaese, 22 Penaia Penaia, 23 Nu'u Nu'u. 

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Assistant referees: Brett Johnson (New Zealand), Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)