The World Rugby Under 20 Trophy (known as the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy until 2014) was an international rugby union competition. The event was organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 8 men's junior national teams with an under-20 age requirement. This event replaced the World Rugby's former age-grade world championships, the Under-19 and Under-21 World Championships.
The inaugural tournament was held in June 2008, hosted by Chile and with 8 teams participating.
The World Rugby Under 20 Trophy was the second level of the World Rugby tournament structure for under-20 national sides. At the same time that the Trophy was launched, World Rugby (then known as the International Rugby Board) also launched an upper-level championship, featuring 16 teams in 2008 and 2009 and a reduced format for 12 teams from 2010 and onwards.
Promotion and relegation between the Trophy and the Championship was in place. The winner of the Trophy would play in next year's Championship, while the last placed team at the Championship would be relegated to the Trophy for the next year.
History The inaugural tournament was held in 2008, hosted by Chile, and won by Uruguay. World Rugby's decision that the United States would host the tournament in 2012 was viewed as the United States taking a step closer towards hosting the Rugby World Cup.
In 2025, World Rugby was exploring the possibility of expanding the annual U20 Championship from 12 teams to 16 by 2026. There was no tournament scheduled for 2025, however, a new cross-regional tournament called the "U20 Challenger Cup" was announced with Chile confirmed to host the inaugural event in 2026, it will feature a minimum of six teams.
Tournament results
Ed.Year HostFinalThird place matchWinner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place 1 2008 20–8 34–10 2 2009 25–13 19–17 3 2010 36–7 23–20 4 2011 31–24 20–15 5 2012 37–33 31–29 6 2013 45–23 38–35 7 2014 35–10 26–25 8 2015 49–24 44–43 9 2016 38–32 (a.e.t.) 44–30 10 2017 14–3 34–12 11 2018 58–8 67–36 12 2019 35–34 29–27 Tournament canceled 2020–2022 due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 13 2023 39–32 83–10 14 2024 48–10 75–22
Team records TeamTitlesRunners-upThird-placeFourth-placeTop 43 (2014, 2017, 2019)3 (2010, 2011, 2012)1 (2024)1 (2013) 82 (2011, 2016)1 (2018) 1 (2023) 42 (2010, 2013) 21 (2012)2 (2009, 2024)1 (2014) 41 (2008)1 (2023)2 (2015, 2017)4 (2011, 2014, 2019, 2024) 81 (2023)1 (2016) 21 (2015) 2 (2008, 2011)1 (2012) 41 (2018) 1 (2016) 21 (2024) 1 (2023) 21 (2009) 2 (2008, 2010) 3 2 (2017, 2019)1 (2018) 3 2 (2013, 2015) 2 1 (2014)2 (2012, 2019)1 (2016) 4 1 (2008)2 (2009, 2013) 3 1 (2010) 1 3 (2016, 2017, 2018) 3 1 (2009) 1
Team 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2023 2024 Years 7th 1 WC WC 6th 5th 6th 2nd 7th 2nd 7th 7th 5th 9 8th 1 2nd 3rd 5th 3rd 5th 5 7th 1 WC WC WC WC WC WC WC 5th 3rd 6th 1st WC WC WC 53rd 3rd 4th 5th 1st WC WC WC WC WC WC 5 8th 8th 7th 8th 6th 8th 8th 7th 8 WC WC 1st WC WC 1st WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC 2 8th 1 WC WC 2nd 2nd 2nd 4th 1st WC WC 1st WC 1st WC 3rd 8 4th 6th 6th 8th 4 5th 5th 8th 6th 6th 4th 4th 4th 8 5th 1 6th 8th 2 6th 7th 2nd 3rd 2nd 6 4th 1st 4th 8th 4 3rd 6th 8th 3 WC WC WC 1st WC WC WC WC 1st WC 2nd 4th 6th 5 WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC WC 3rd 1st 2 6th 7th 2 2nd 1st WC 2 WC WC WC WC 3rd 5th 2nd 4th 3rd 5 WC 2nd 7th 1st WC 3rd 5th 7th 2nd 71st WC 5th 4th 7th 4th 3rd 6th 3rd 5th 4th 2nd 4th 12 7th 8th 7th 8th 5th 5Total 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Legend = Hosts = Champions (promoted to U20 Championship) = Champions (not promoted to U20 Championship) = Runners-up = Third place = Fourth place WC = Competed in the U20 Championship q = Qualified — = Did not qualify
References
External links U20 Trophy: The story so far at World Rugby