World Junior Championship matches moved due to inclement weather

NEWS: The inclement weather conditions in Cape Town has forced World Rugby to make a venue change for the World Under-20 Championship for the remainder of the tournament.

The stadium in Paarl is out of service for next Tuesday’s final pool matches in order to give the pitch a chance to recover. The matches have been moved to Stellenbosch.

Paarl was the venue that staged the second-round pool games last Thursday between Ireland-Australia, France-New Zealand and Italy-South Africa that took place with the rain pouring down heavily on a soft surface that turned to mud in numerous areas.

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The scenes! 🔥

A first ever victory for Italy against South Africa! 🇮🇹#WorldRugbyU20s | @Federugby pic.twitter.com/H5vBLWtGYe

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 29, 2023

Ireland were among the six teams scheduled to play next Tuesday in Paarl but all three matches listed – Italy versus Georgia, Ireland versus Fiji and New Zealand versus Japan – that will be moved.

Tournament director Simon Keeble explained: “Following on from match day two and the inclement weather that affected the tournament, we have made the decision to give the facility at Paarl Gymnasium a rest for match day three to ensure where possible that the best available playing surfaces are utilised.

“For match day three, kick-off timings will remain the same, but Danie Craven will be utilised instead of Paarl while Athlone Stadium for match day three will remain as planned.

“It is then anticipated to return to Paarl for match day four and rest Danie Craven, with kick-off timings brought forward as per the other games at Paarl.”