U20: New Zealand are champions

New Zealand ended a three-year trophy drought at the Under-20 World Cup when they beat England 21-16 in the Final  at  Stadio Giovanni Zini in Italy on Saturday.

It was their fifth win in their sixth appearance in a Final and ended England's dominance over the last few years.

Tries by Vincent Tavae-Aso and Akira Ioane – who was also yellow-carded for a 'dangerous' tackle – gave the Kiwis the victory over an England team that started strongly, but appeared to have run out of puff.

* Meanwhile South Africa made amends for their disappointing semifinal showing, with a commanding 31-18 win over France in the third-place play-off.

The Junior Springboks outscored their French counterparts by four tries to three.

We look at all Saturday's finals!

Final: New Zealand 21-16 England

New Zealand won the Under-20 World Cup title for the fifth time on Saturday, with a 21-16 victory over defending champions England.

It was New Zealand's first triumph since 2011, after they had captured the first four editions from 2008 onwards.

England, the double defending champions, had led 7-0 at one stage – after centre Max Clark scored what turned out to be his side's only try of the game.

Replacement centre Vincent Tavae-Aso helped pull the New Zealanders back into the final with his team's first try as they went on to carve out a narrow 11-10 lead at the interval.

Powerful No.8 Akira Ioane grabbed his team's second try, before he was sin-binned and in a dramatic finale England had a try ruled out when Piers O'Connor was judged to be offside.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:

Tries: Aso, Ioane

Con: Black

Pens: Black 3

For England:

Try: Clark

Con: Jennings

Pens: Jennings 3

Yellow card: Akira Ioane (New Zealand, 48 – foul play, late tackle and no arms)

Teams:

New Zealand Under-20: 15 Mitchell Hunt, 14 Jack Goodhue, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Tinoai Faiane, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Otere Black,  9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi,  8 Akira Ioane,  7 Blake Gibson, 6 Mitchell Dunshea, 5 Hamish Dalzell, 4 Joshua Goodhue, 3 Atunaisa Moli (captain), 2 Liam Polwart, 1 Ricky Riccitelli.

Replacements: 16 Steven Misa, 17 Isileli Tu'ungafasi, 18 Tau Koloamatangi, 19 Mitchell Jacobson, 20 Henry Stowers, 21 Harrison Levien, 22 Vincent Tavae-Aso, 23 George Bridge.

England Under-20: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 George Perkins, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Max Clark, 11 Howard Packman, 10 Rory Jennings, 9 James Mitchell, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Will Owen, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 Charlie Ewels (captain), 4 Will Witty, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Ellis Genge.

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Sebastian Adeniran-Olule, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Sam Skinner, 21 Will Homer, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Piers O'Conor.

Referee: Will Houston (Australia)

Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Third-place play-off: France 18-31 South Africa

The Junior Springboks are the bronze medal winners of the 2015 Under-20 World Cup, after beating France comprehensively.

The South Africans were in command in the first half and led 28-8 at half-time, thanks to four converted tries.

France replied with a penalty and a try.

After the break the young French, playing against a stiff breeze, managed to score two more unconverted tries, while the Junior Boks were only able to add a penalty to their tally.

Dawie Theron, the Junior Boks coach, afterwards said his side made the best of their opportunities in the first half but they struggled to find their rhythm after half-time.

"We showed good composure to score those tries in the first half after France had led 8-0," Theron said.

"We couldn't find our rhythm and momentum in the second half and the French did well to put us under pressure.

"I'm glad we were able to finish the tournament with a win," said Theron.

The scorers:

For France:

Tries: Blanc, Bonneval, Delannoy

Pen: Méret

For South Africa

Tries: D du Preez 2, Du Toit, Jenkins

Cons: Thomson 4

Pen: Thomson

Teams:

South Africa Under-20: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 7 Dan du Preez, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Jan van der Merwe, 1 Mzamo Majola.

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Retshegofaditswe Nche, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19. Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Grant Hermanus.

France Under-20: 15 Alexandre Pilati, 14 Arthur Bonneval, 13 Damien Penaud, 12 Elliott Roudil, 11 Lucas Blanc, 10 Lucas Méret, 9 Gauthier Doubrère, 8 Fabien Sanconnie, 7 Lucas Bachelier (captain), 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Tristan Labouteley, 3 Clément Castets, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Thibault Estorge.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Thierry Pavia, 18 Quentin Bethune, 19 Julien Delannoy, 20 Matthieu Ugena, 21 Thomas Fortunel, 22 Pierre Fouyssac, 23 Thomas Ramos.

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Assistant referees: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand), Gary Conway (Ireland)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Fifth-place play-off: Wales 23-28 Australia

Australia, determined to repeat their fifth place finish of 2014, scored the opening try when number eight Adam Korczyk reached over the line in the sixth minute in Viadana. Wales then lost flank Phillips to a head knock but some good hands created space for Joshua Adams to squeeze over in the corner.

With Australia piling the pressure on the Welsh defence, a second try followed in the 20th minute through second-row Lukhan Lealaiaulolo-Tui. However it could have been more than 14-5 at half-time with several opportunities having gone begging due to knock-ons.

Wales began the second half strongly, causing problems in the scrum for Australia but fly-half Daniel Jones missed the resulting penalty. Australia then had winger Campbell Magnay sin-binned for a dangerous tackle, but they couldn't convert their advantage into tries, only two Jones penalties.

Instead it was Australia who stretched their lead to 28-11 with two tries in six minutes just past the hour mark, first replacement prop Folau Faingaa was driven over and then after several phases the ball found Player of the Tournament nominee Jonah Placid who touched down in the right corner after another strong run.

As they have done in previous matches, though, Australia allowed their opponents to come back at them as first a beautiful cross-kick by Jones found winger Elis-Wyn Benham for a try and then – with Magnay having received a second yellow for another dangerous tackle – a great counter-attack saw replacement Lloyd Lewis dot down in the final minute..

The scorers:

For Wales:

Tries: Adams, Lewis, Benham

Con: Jones

Pens: Jones 2

For Australia:

Tries: Placid, Faingaa, Lealaiaulolo-Tui, Korcyzk

Cons: Deegan 4

Teams:

Wales Under-20: 15 Dafydd Howells, 14 Elis-Wyn Benham, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Joshua Adams, 10 Daniel Jones, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Ollie Griffiths (captain), 6 Tom Philips, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Luke Garrett.

Replacements: 16 Torin Myhill, 17 Keagan Bale, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Lee Taylor, 20 Liam Belcher, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Lloyd Lewis, 23 Barney Nightingale.

Australia Under-20: 15 Jonah Placid, 14 Tyson Davis, 13 Andrew Kellaway (captain), 12 Duncan Paia'aua, 11 Campbell Magnay, 10 Andrew Deegan, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Adam Korczyk, 7 Michael Gunn, 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Lukan Lealaiauloto-tui, 4 Riley Winter, 3 Matt Sandell, 2 Connal McInerney, 1 Cameron Orr.

Replacements: 16 Fereti Saaga, 17 Folau Faingaa, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Olly Kamp, 20 Jack McCalman, 21 Isaak Fines-Leleiwasa, 22 James Dalgleish, 23 Sione Tuipolotu.

Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

Seventh-place play-off: Ireland 17-9 Scotland

Blair Kinghorn gave Scotland an early lead with a penalty, but before 10 minutes was on the clock Ireland had hit back after Joey Carbery's kick bounced awkwardly and winger Stephen Fitzgerald scored in the right corner.

Scotland cut the deficit with another Kinghorn penalty before both he and Carbery missed with longer efforts to make it 7-6 at half-time, Ireland having suffered a blow when second-row David O'Connor was stretchered off after lengthy treatment for a head injury.

It would remain that way until the 49th minute when Garry Ringrose kicked a penalty after Scotland were caught offside, but their Celtic rivals cut the deficit to a single point with 11 minutes to go with a penalty by George Horne.

However, there was to be no comeback victory as a solid maul created an opportunity for Ireland to secure seventh place, winger Fitzgerald making a great line-break for his second try of the game. Scotland's finish of eighth, though is still their best ever ranking in the U20 Championship.

The scorers:

For Ireland:

Tries: Fitzgerald 2

Cons: Ringrose, Carbery

Pen: Ringrose

For Scotland:

Pens: Horne, Kinghorn 2

Teams:

Ireland Under-20: 15 Billy Dardis, 14 Stephen Fitzgerald, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Sam Arnold, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Charlie Rock, 8 Lorcan Dow, 7 Rory Moloney, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Alex Thompson, 4 David O'Connor, 3 Conan O'Donnell, 2 Zack McCall, 1 Andrew Porter.

Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Liam O'Connor, 18 Oisin Heffernan, 19 Cian Romaine, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Jack Cullen, 22 Dergal Cleary, 23 Ciaran Gaffney.

Scotland Under-20: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Robbie Nairn, 13 Alec Coombes, 12 Patrick Kelly, 11 Richard Galloway, 10 Rory Hutchinson, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 6 Neil Irvine-Hess, 5 Ally Miller, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Sam James, 1 Murray McCallum.

Replacements: 16 Ross Graham, 17 Dan Elkington, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Ruaridh Knott, 20 Lewis Wynne, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Galbraith, 23 Archie Russell.

Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

Ninth-place play-off: Argentina 38-21 Japan

Japan, already guaranteed their best final ranking regardless of the result, started the brighter with number eight Tevita Tatafu's fifth minute try coming from a quick tapped penalty. Argentina began to find their feet and a solid maul resulted in a try by flanker Jose Deheza just before the water break.

Los Pumitas' forwards were starting to come to the fore and a strong scrum resulted in another penalty and winger Eugenio Achilli dotting down. Japan hit back when a great break by Ryuji Noguchi saw Hironori Yatomi under the posts, but on the stroke of half-time Deheza grabbed his second try to make it 17-14 to Argentina.

Tatafu acrobatically dived over the line to score his second try in the 51st minute to regain the lead for Japan, but once more Argentina hit back through first second-row Ignacio Larrague and then replacement Patricio Baronio to lead 31-21 with 10 minutes to go.

Japan centre Kajimura was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle in the 72nd minute and Argentina made their man advantage count, winger Emiliano Boffelli intercepting on their 10-metre line and racing away to score and ensured Los Pumitas matched their ninth place finish of 2014.

The scorers:

For Argentina:

Tries: Larrague, Deheza 2, Achilli, Boffelli, Baronio Gauna

Cons: Boffelli 4

For Japan:

Tries: Tatafu 2, Yatomi

Cons: Noguchi

Teams:

Argentina Under-20: 15 Matías Ferro, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Tomás Granella, 12 Bautista Ezcurra (captain), 11 Eugenio Achilli, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 9 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 8 Santiago Portillo, 7 Lucas Gasparri, 6 José Deheza, 5 Vittorio Rosti, 4 Ignacio Larrague, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Ignacio Calles, 1 Nicolás Ocello.

Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Javier Díaz, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Enzo Ocampo, 20 Ernesto Olmedo, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Juan Cruz Mallía, 23 Santiago Resino.

Japan Under-20: 15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Selya Ozaki, 13 Kaisei Kasahara, 12 Yusuke Kajimura, 11 Hironori Yatomi, 10 Taisetsu Kanai, 9 Ryuji Yonemura, 8 Tevita Tatafu, 7 Kosuke Urabe, 6 Faulua Makisi, 5 Hiroto Kato, 4 Tomoki Saita, 3 Tatsuya Kakimoto, 2 Kosuke Horikoshi (captain), 1 Shogo Miura.

Replacements: 16 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 17 Sung Ho Park, 18 Yuma Fujino, 19 Go Maeda, 20 Ataata Moeakiola, 21 Daiki Nakajima, 22 Yosuke Sano y 23 Yuta Yamada.

Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy)

Eleventh-place play-off: Italy 20-19 Samoa

With the loser to be relegated to the World Rugby U20 Trophy next year the stakes could not have been higher in the opening match in Cremona.

Italy dominated the opening five minutes, twice getting to within a metre of the line before Maicol Azzolini kicked a penalty. Samoa, though, came charging back, Malu Falaniko recovering from missing his first attempt at goal to kick two penalties, either side of a try from Chase Tiatia, the full-back having danced through the Azzurrini defence after a turnover in the Italian 22.

Falaniko missed two more penalties that would have increased the lead beyond 13-6 and they would have paid for it when good Italian pressure saw centre Enrico Lucchin dive over the line, had the try not been ruled out for a punch thrown by number eight Renato Giammarioli who was sent to the sin-bin.

Italy came out after the break with fresh impetus and purpose and were held up over the line three times as they camped on the Samoa 22 for over 10 minutes, repeated penalties resulting in first Samoa captain Josh Dowsing and then prop Junior Halafuka being sin-binned before referee Gary Conway awarded a penalty try.

That cut the deficit to 16-13, but Italy quickly gave away a penalty which Falaniko kicked to ease the pressure on Samoa. However, it proved only a temporary respite as, roared on by the home crowd, Italy came close to scoring again when replacement hooker Luhandre Luus charged 40 metres after his own hack-on only for centre Josh Ioane to save Samoa once again.

With chants of Italia ringing out around the Stadio Giovanni Zino, the Azzurrini continued to pile pressure on the Samoan scrum and repeated infringements saw replacement prop Jarred Adams become the third player to receive a yellow card. A second penalty try followed but then it was Italy's turn to defend for their lives on their own line in the dying minutes, some great defence keeping them out only to then give away a penalty with seven seconds left on the clock to give Falaniko the chance to steal the win for Samoa.

The scorers:

For Italy:

Tries: Penalty try 2

Cons: Azzolini 2

Pens: Azzolini, Minozzi

For Samoa:

Try: Tiatia

Con: Falaniko

Pens: Falaniko 4

Teams:

Italy Under-20: 15 Giacomo De Santis, 14 Luca Sperandio, 13 Pietro Lamaro, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Lorenzo Masato, 10 Maicol Azzolini, 9 Riccardo Raffaele, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Matteo Archetti, 5 Samuele Ortis, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Federico Pavesi, 2 Edoardo Ferraro, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.

Replacement: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Dino Dallavalle, 18 Andrea Cincotto, 19 Davide Zanetti, 20 Matteo Cornelli, 21 Matteo Ferrari, 22 Matteo Minozzi, 23 Yannick Agbasse.

Samoa Under-20: 15 Chase Tiatia, 14 Trent Winterstein, 13 Jonathan Faauli, 12 Josh Ioane, 11 Malu Falaniko, 10 Orbyn Leger, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Josh Dowsing (captain), 7 Uini Fetalaiga, 6 Giovanni Kueffner-Mulitalo, 5 Mike Tamoaieta, 4  Ezra Fano, 3 Mike Tamoaieta, 2 Ieremia Mataena, 1 Junior Halafuka.

Replacements: 16 Kemble Frost, 17 Jarred Adams, 18 Marco Fepulea'i, 19 Darren Tiumalu, 20 Jordan Jackett, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 Johnny Samuelu, 23 Ah-Mu Tuimalealiifano.

Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)

Source: @WorldRugby

CHARACTER: Wonderful moment as @manusamoa U20s welcome the @AllBlacks U20s. #rugbybuildscharacter pic.twitter.com/1ZJbWhhoxF

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 20, 2015