Preview: U20 World Cup Round 3

Defending champions England, France, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland are all in contention to reach the semifinals of the Under-20 World Cup in Italy.

Six teams will go into the final round of pool matches at the Under-20 World Cup in Italy on Wednesday with their hopes of a semifinal spot still alive.

Defending champions England, 2012 winners South Africa and four-time champions New Zealand currently occupy top spot in their respective pools – after two bonus-point victories so far.

They will want to retain those positions to secure a place in the top four, with the pool winners to be joined by the best runner-up across the three pools in the semifinals in Calvisano on June 15.

However, they will not underestimate the threat that France, Australia and Ireland pose to their title aspirations with the simple equation being whoever wins those matches will reach the semifinals as pool winners.

Australia are currently the best runner-up having, like South Africa, enjoyed bonus-point victories over Samoa and hosts Italy. It is only their point differential which keeps them second in Pool B.

France have nine points, one fewer than Australia, after following a narrow victory over Wales with a seven-try defeat of Japan in round two. Ireland are a further point adrift, having edged tight affairs with Argentina and Scotland in Pool C.

This means that in the event of defeat, France and Ireland must secure one or two bonus points to match the 10 points that Australia currently have. If they fail to do that, then Australia will be the best runner-up regardless of the outcome of their Pool B decider with the Junior Springboks.

Les Bleuets currently have a better points difference than Australia, so if they were to get that bonus point and move to 10 points as well then the pressure will fall firmly on the shoulders of the Australians who will not want to miss out on the semifinals again on point differential.

That was exactly what happened to them last year when they and New Zealand both accumulated 10 points from their three pool matches, but the hosts had a far superior point differential than their trans-Tasman rivals and so progressed to the semifinals.

England and France are certainly no strangers to facing each other, having already gone toe-to-toe this year in a Six Nations decider in Brighton, the hosts emerging 24-11 winners that night and coach Jon Callard knows his side must be switched on for the full 80 minutes if they are to repeat that win.

"I always enjoy playing against the French and watching them play," admitted Callard, whose side have the best point differential of the unbeaten teams, albeit only six points separate England, New Zealand and South Africa going into the final round of pool matches.

"They have flair and a well drilled set piece which makes it a nice challenge for our team. Our scrum and line-out have improved game on game so to go against a strong French side will be a good test. I am expecting them to be solid up front and committed, and because of that French element of the unknown, we need to be sharp, always switched on and ready to respond to every eventuality."

South Africa coach Dawie Theron has reached the semifinals in three of his four previous U20 Championship campaigns and expects his forward pack – who were so dominant against Samoa last Saturday – to be key to their hopes of winning a second title.

"We have picked a very competitive side to face the quality Australian outfit," he said. "They showed with their two wins against Samoa and Italy that they are a huge threat, especially with the ball in hand, so we will have to work hard to counter their strong points.

"Our forwards are showing good form and the key for us will be to keep our momentum, reduce the number of errors and to create more opportunities for our backs."

Ireland coach Nigel Carolan has admitted his team "will need to be brilliant for the full 80 minutes to give ourselves a chance" of beating New Zealand, who won the first four U20 Championship titles from 2008-11 without losing a match.

That is not to say that his counterpart Scott Robertson is taking anything for granted.

"A do or die quarter-final against Ireland waits for us, so winner takes all," acknowledged Robertson.

"Our focus is to finish on top with the best for and against record. There's only six points between the top three teams at the moment, including us.

"This game's a priority and our intention is hopefully to create enough forward thrust to finish fine, while respecting Ireland in our preparation and winning the match. The opportunity is there to score as many as we can, but the best thing is to win it!

"We'll have to make sure we get some really good top quality ball off our set piece to create opportunities for our backs, but more importantly if we can keep our penalty count down, we'll keep it away from any set piece drives and protect our goal-line."

While their hopes of winning the title have already gone, there is still plenty for the remaining six teams to play for as they bid to record the best possible ranking come the tournament's conclusion, given this will determine the seedings for 2016.

The two remaining pool runners-up and the best two third placed teams will then battle it out for fifth to eighth places over the two remaining days, with the other four nations facing the threat of relegation to the sister event, the World Rugby U20 Trophy in 2016 to be replaced by Georgia.

Of those six teams, only Argentina and Scotland have any points on the board. Los Pumitas have suffered heart-break on each match day in Italy with first Ireland and then New Zealand kicking late penalties to deny them victories, while the Scots salvaged a losing bonus point against Ireland.

Argentina's match with New Zealand was one of the best in U20 Championship history, packed full of passion and determination and if Los Pumitas can recreate that performance then they will fancy their chances to beat Scotland and ensure they can finish no lower than eighth in 2015.

Wales will tackle Japan in the other Pool A match knowing that a bonus point victory over the U20 Trophy winners in 2014 would boost their hopes of avoiding the ninth to 12th place play-offs.

"They pose a threat, especially with the ball in hand, they attack from anywhere so it is vital we concentrate on producing a good performance that secures a win first and foremost," admitted Wales coach Allan Lewis. "If we manage that and to score some tries, we will look at bonus points and points difference but we must get that win first."

With the support of a partisan home crowd behind them, Italy will hope they can build on the flashes of good play they have showed against Australia and South Africa and get their first win of the championship and, by doing so, potentially avoid the relegation play-off match for a second consecutive year.

"Our first performances were generally positive, even if we suffered two defeats," insisted Italy captain Paolo Buonfiglio.

"We must definitely improve our effectiveness in attack. This is the highest level of the age-grade rugby and during a match there are not so many chances to score. It's crucial to take them. We must be more clinical."

Schedule (kick-off is local time – GMT plus two hours)

Wednesday, June 10

England v France – Viadana (16.30)

Argentina v Scotland – Calvisano (16.30)

Wales v Japan – Viadana (18.30)

Samoa v Italy – Calvisano (18.30)

New Zealand v Ireland – Viadana (20.30)

South Africa v Australia – Calvisano (20.30)

Source: @WorldRugby

TOP 5: Check out the best tries from Day Two, featuring @englandrugby, @FFRugby, @federugby, @manusamoa, @allblacks https://t.co/xq5RM6N4tZ

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 7, 2015

U20s FLASHBACK: Remember this one @PatLambie from 2010? #WorldRugbyU20s @springboks @juniorboks https://t.co/uRbLuqS5Ed

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 9, 2015