The 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship was the 13th edition of the premier age-grade rugby union competition. The tournament is hosted in South Africa for the second time, previously being held in 2012.
The 2023 under 20 competition (alongside the Trophy) was the first global U20 competition held since 2019, with the 2020 edition, scheduled to be held in Italy, cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing instability in the world following the pandemic delaying the return of the competition. There were however various regional U20 competitions with the Six Nations Under 20s Championship and Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship continuing to take place.
Venues AthloneStellenboschPaarlAthlone StadiumDanie Craven StadiumPaarl GimnasiumCapacity: 34,000Capacity: 16,000Capacity: 2,000
Teams The teams that participated in the tournament are listed in the table below, with a summary of their previous best results at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship included.
TeamResult (2019)Best Result124thThird place (2016)122ndRunners-up (2010, 2019)125thChampions (2013, 2014, 2016)811thSixth place (2011)121stChampions (2018, 2019)410thNinth place (2018)128thRunners-up (2016)109thEighth place (2017, 2018)5—Tenth place (2015)127thChampions (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017) 123rdChampions (2012)126thRunners-up (2013)
Match officials The following officials were named for the tournament, with an official panel of 10 referees designated to oversee the game. Assistant Referees for the pool stage were local South African referees, whilst in a World Rugby first, a TMO bunker was trialled whereby the Television Match Official focussed on the game, and a Split Screen Operator focussed on any yellow cards needing an upgrade to a red card.
Referees Ben Breakspear (Wales) Eoghan Cross (Ireland) Hollie Davidson (Scotland) Morné Ferreira (South Africa) Reuben Keane (Australia) Angus Mabey (New Zealand) Takehito Namekawa (Japan) Luc Ramos (France) Damian Schneider (Argentina) Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
Assistant Referees Christopher Allison (South Africa) Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) Griffin Colby (South Africa) Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa) AJ Jacobs (South Africa) Phumzile Mbewu (South Africa) Dylen November (South Africa)
Television match officials / Split Screen Operator Ben Blain (Scotland) Brett Cronan (Australia) Tom Foley (England) Quinton Immelman (South Africa) Marius Jonker (South Africa) Matteo Liperini (Italy) Joy Neville (Ireland) Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Ian Tempest (England) Ben Whitehouse (Wales) Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Pool stage Pool APool BPool C
Pool A TeamPldWDLPFPA−/+TFTABPPts 3 3 0 0 153 45 +108 22 7 3 15 3 2 0 1 103 80 +23 16 12 2 10 3 1 0 2 86 89 –3 13 13 3 7 3 0 0 3 50 178 –128 8 27 0 0
Pool B TeamPldWDLPFPA−/+TFTABPPts 3 2 1 0 111 71 +40 17 10 3 13 3 1 2 0 109 63 +46 15 10 2 10 3 1 1 1 78 89 –11 11 11 1 7 3 0 0 3 71 146 –75 10 22 2 2
FB 15Sam Harris RW 14Tobias ElliottOC 13Rekeiti Ma'asi-WhiteIC 12Joseph WoodwardLW 11Joe Jenkins FH 10Conor SlevinSH 9 Charlie Bracken N8 8 Chandler Cunningham-South OF 7 Greg FisilauBF 6 Finn CarnduffRL 5 Lewis Chessum (c)LL 4 Harvey Cuckson TP 3 Afolabi Fasogbon HK 2 Finn Theobald-Thomas LP 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour Replacements:HK 16Nathan Jibulu PR 17Archie McArthur PR 18Jimmy Halliwell LK 19Nathan Michelow FH 20Tristan Woodman SH 21Nye Thomas FH 22Louie Johnson WG 23Jacob Cusick Coach: Mark Mapletoft FB 15Henry McErleanRW 14Andrew Osborne OC 13Hugh CooneyIC 12John DevineLW 11Hugh GavinFH 10Sam PrendergastSH 9 Fintan GunneN8 8 James McNabneyOF 7 Ruadhán Quinn BF 6 Diarmuid ManganRL 5 Conor O'TighearnaighLL 4 Evan O'Connell (c) TP 3 Paddy McCarthy HK 2 Gus McCarthyLP 1 George Hadden Replacements:HK 16Max CleinPR 17George Morris PR 18Fiachna Barrett LK 19Charlie Irvine FL 20Brian Gleeson SH 21Oscar CawleyFH 22Matty LynchWG 23James Nicholson Coach: Richie Murphy
FB 15Mason Gordon RW 14Tim RyanOC 13Henry O'Donnell IC 12David VaihuLW 11Darby Lancaster FH 10Jack BowenSH 9 Teddy Wilson (c)N8 8 John Bryant OF 7 Ned Slack-Smith BF 6 Lachlan HooperRL 5 Dan MaiavaLL 4 Jhy Legg TP 3 Massimo de Lutiis HK 2 Max Craig LP 1 Jack Barrett Replacements:HK 16Liam Bowron PR 17Harrison Usher PR 18Nick Bloomfield LK 19Toby MacPherson FH 20Leafi Heka Talataina SH 21Klayton Thorn FH 22Harry McLaughlin-Phillips WG 23Taj Annan Coach: Nathan Grey FB 15Henry McErleanRW 14Andrew Osborne OC 13Hugh GavinIC 12John DevineLW 11James NicholsonFH 10Sam Prendergast SH 9 Fintan Gunne N8 8 Brian GleesonOF 7 Ruadhán Quinn BF 6 James McNabney RL 5 Conor O'TighearnaighLL 4 Charlie Irvine TP 3 Ronan Foxe HK 2 Gus McCarthy (c) LP 1 Paddy McCarthy Replacements:HK 16Danny Sheahan PR 17George Morris PR 18Fiachna Barrett LK 19Evan O'Connell FL 20Diarmuid Mangan SH 21Jack Oliver FH 22Harry West WG 23Rory Telfer Coach: Richie Murphy
Pool C TeamPldWDLPFPA−/+TFTABPPts 3 2 0 1 83 73 +10 10 8 1 9 3 2 0 1 73 50 +23 9 5 1 9 3 1 0 2 59 59 0 7 7 1 5 3 1 0 2 66 99 –33 8 14 1 5
Pool stage standings Seedings for the knockout stage based on results from the pool stage:. The 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship tournament rules don't appear to have been published, but the seeding is consistent with the tournament rules for the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.
Team Pool Finals 1 A 3 +108 15 2 B 3 +40 13 3 C 3 +10 9 4 B 3 +46 10 5–8th place play-offs 5 A 3 +23 10 6 C 3 +23 9 7 A 3 −3 7 8 B 3 −11 7 9–12th place play-offs 9 C 3 0 5 10 C 3 −33 5 11 B 3 –75 2 12 A 3 −128 0
Knockout stage
9–12th place play-offs
Semi-finals
11th place
9th place
5–8th place play-offs
Semi-finals
7th place
5th place
Finals
Semi-finals
3rd place
Final
Final placings
Team 1 5 5 0 0 255 90 +165 36 13 2 5 3 1 1 156 133 +23 23 19 3 5 3 0 2 117 119 –2 12 13 4 5 1 2 2 155 137 18 21 20 5–8th place play-offs 5 5 3 1 1 179 157 +22 27 21 6 5 2 0 3 159 167 −8 24 25 7 5 3 0 2 188 149 +39 28 23 8 5 2 0 3 120 121 −1 16 18 9–12th place play-offs 9 5 3 0 2 147 101 +46 20 10 10 5 1 0 4 134 215 −81 19 33 11 5 2 0 3 137 167 −30 19 23 12 5 0 0 5 97 268 −171 14 41
See also 2023 World Rugby U20 Trophy
References
External links World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 - Official Website