2015 World Rugby U20 Championship - Italy

7/4/1

Scotland +12½ versus Argentina

France +9½ versus England

7/4/1

5/4/1

Italy +120 over Samoa

Italy +3½ versus Samoa

Wales -33½ over Japan

New Zealand -23½ over Ireland

South Africa -7½ over Australia

9/7/1

Italy +120 over Samoa

Italy +3½ versus Samoa

Wales -33½ over Japan

New Zealand -23½ over Ireland

South Africa -7½ over Australia

FINAL POOL STANDINGS:

POOL A

FRA 3/0/0 96 PF 35 PA

ENG 2/0/1 107 PF 53 PA

WLS 1/0/2 92 PF 52 PA

JPN 0/0/3 17 PF 172 PA

POOL B

SAF 3/0.0 119 PF 26 PA

AUS 2/0/1 78 PF 83 PA

SAM 1/0/2 60 PF 98 PA

ITA 0/0/3 44 PF 94 PA

POOL C

NZL 3/0/0 125 PF 42 PA

IRE 2/0/1 45 PF 61 PA

SCO 1/0/2 59 PF 98 PA

ARG 0/0/3 51 PF 79 PA

PER WORLD RUGBY.ORG:

The dream of winning the World Rugby U20 Championship 2015 remains alive for South Africa, New Zealand, France and England after the climax of the pool stages in Calvisano and Viadana on Wednesday.

2012 champions South Africa are the top seeds for the semi-finals and as such will face two-time defending champions England, who secured the best runner-up spot on point differential from Australia after both failed to add to their 10 points following losses to France and the Junior Springboks respectively.

This is the second year in a row that Australia have missed out on the semi-finals on point differential but they were never at the races against a physical South African outfit who ran in six tries in a commanding 46-13 victory in Calvisano to finish top of Pool B.

That bonus point win meant South Africa finished the pool stages with 15 points, one more than New Zealand who battled to a 25-3 win over Ireland in the Pool C decider and maintain their record of never having failed to reach the semi-finals in U20 Championship history.

France had earlier become the first side to book their place in the semi-finals after beating England 30-18 in Viadana, ensuring they will finish in the top four for only the second time since the U20 Championship began in 2008.

The semi-finals will take place in Calvisano on Monday, 15 June with New Zealand v France up first at 18:30 local time followed by a repeat of the 2014 final between South Africa and England at 20:30. Monday will also see the semi-finals for the positions from fifth to eighth with Australia tackling Samoa and Ireland meeting Wales, and ninth to 12th with Samoa taking on Japan and Argentina facing hosts Italy.

The numbers game: All you need to know about the U20 Championship final

We bring you some interesting statistics on past finals at the World Rugby U20 Championship to whet your appetite for the 2015 decider between New Zealand and England at the Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona.

• This will be the fourth final between the two nations, but the first since 2011 when New Zealand won a fourth successive title after a 33-22 victory over England in Padova.
• Five teams have reached an U20 Championship final – New Zealand, England, Australia, South Africa and Wales.
• Three teams have lifted the coveted trophy in New Zealand (2008-11), South Africa (2012) and England (2013-14).
• This will be the sixth appearance in the final for both England and New Zealand. However, while New Zealand have a winning ratio of 80 per cent from their past finals, England’s is only 40 per cent.
• The seven captains to have lifted the coveted trophy are Chris Smith (New Zealand, 2008), Aaron Cruden (New Zealand, 2009), Tyler Bleyendaal (New Zealand, 2010), Luke Whitelock (New Zealand, 2011), Wiaan Liebenberg (South Africa, 2012), Jack Clifford (England, 2013) and Maro Itoje (England, 2014).
• Only twice has an U20 Championship final not featured New Zealand – in 2013 and 2014.
• The 2013 title decider was the only final not to feature a southern hemisphere team - England beat Wales 23-15 in Vannes.
• Iconic rugby venues to have hosted a World Rugby U20 Championship final include Newlands in 2012 and Eden Park in 2014.
• The 2015 final will be the 260th match in U20 Championship history and the second title decider to be held in Italy.
• The last time the final took place in Italy was in 2011 and among the players involved that day were World Rugby Player of the Year 2014 Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara and Charles Piutau for New Zealand and George Ford, Owen Farrell and Joe Launchbury for England.
• Only eight days after leading his side to defeat in the 2014 final against England, South Africa fly-half Handré Pollard made his test debut against Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
• A total of 364 points have been scored in the seven previous finals.
• Forty-one tries have been scored in finals, all bar 18 of them by four-time champions New Zealand. Twenty-eight of these tries - or 68.29 per cent - have been turned into seven pointers.
• The only player to score a hat-trick in a JWC final is Telusa Veainu in New Zealand's 62-17 win over Australia in 2010.
• New Zealand duo Aaron Cruden and Zac Guildford both scored braces in the 2009 final, as did England winger Christian Wade in their 2011 loss to New Zealand, winger Ashley Evans in Wales’ loss to England in 2013 and centre Jesse Kriel in the Junior Springboks’ defeat by England in 2014.
• The first player to score a try in an U20 Championship final was New Zealand wing Kade Poki, after 17 minutes of the 2008 title decider with England at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales.
• The last player to score a try was South Africa centre Jesse Kriel in their 21-20 loss to England in the 2014 final at Eden Park.
• The fastest try in an U20 Championship final was scored by New Zealand hooker Liam Coltman within the first minute in 2010.
• By contrast, the longest wait for a try in an U20 Championship final was 34 minutes in 2012, the time it took for New Zealand's Milford Keresoma to dot down at Newlands.
• Thirty-three players have scored a try in an U20 Championship final to date.
• The first points scored in an U20 Championship final were by New Zealand full back Trent Renata with a penalty after five minutes in 2008.
• Ten is the most tries scored in an U20 Championship final during New Zealand's 44-28 win over England in 2009. New Zealand scored seven of them.
• The winning team has scored the most tries in four of the seven final. Ironically the three exceptions – in 2011, 2013 and 2014 when tries where level – involved England.
• The most points scored in a single JWC final is 79 in New Zealand's scintillating 62-17 defeat of Australia in 2010. The lowest total is 41, in both 2008 and 2014.
• The fewest points scored by any team in an U20 Championship final are the three England managed against New Zealand in the inaugural final in 2008.
• The smallest winning margin in an U20 Championship final is the single point that separated England and South Africa in 2014.
• Dave Rennie is the most successful coach in U20 Championship final history, overseeing New Zealand's first three titles between 2008 and 2010.
• Ten players have won more than one winners' medals: Zac Guildford (2008-09), Willie Ioane (2009-10), Luke Whitelock and Glen Robertson (2010-11) for New Zealand and England’s Callum Braley, Joel Conlon, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, Ross Moriarty, Harry Sloan and Tom Stephenson (2013-14).
• The top point scorer in an U20 Championship final is Tyler Bleyendaal, the New Zealand captain in 2010 contributing 28 points to their cause in the 62-17 win over Australia.
• There have also been 35 penalties kicked with the most in a single final being six in both 2010 and 2012.
• The only person to slot a drop goal between the posts in an U20 Championship final is South Africa fly-half Handré Pollard in 2012. He also missed with two attempts in the 2014 final.
• There have been three red cards and three yellow cards in U20 Championship finals. Two of the red cards came in 2012 with New Zealand's Ofa Tu'ungafasi and South African Paul Willemse dismissed just before the hour mark. The other came in the inaugural final in 2008 when England's Calum Clark saw red.

Old rivals ready for titanic battle in U20 final

England and New Zealand meeting in a World Rugby U20 Championship final is nothing new, Saturday’s title decider in Cremona will be the fourth time the rivals have met at this stage of the competition with the outcome having been the same each time – a New Zealand victory.

The last of New Zealand’s four titles came in 2011 after a 33-22 victory over England at the Stadio Plebiscito in Padova and captain Atu Moli will be hoping that history repeats itself when the sides meet again on Italian soil to end a long wait for a fifth success.

“Yes, definitely it will be extra motivation,” insisted prop Moli, whose side overwhelmed France 45-7 in the semi-final with some lethal finishing by their backline.

“People talk about pressure but we’ll take that pressure and turn it into a positive.

“It will mean the world to us to get our hands on the trophy as it’s been a few years since we won the championship.

“We have been working towards this since November and now we are finally here. This was the goal to get into the final and win it. We’d like to repay the people who have helped us get here by winning the championship.

“I go to sleep every night dreaming about having the trophy in my hands but I know we have a lot of hard work to do first and we’ll see how it pans out on Saturday.”

CREATING A LEGACY

For Moli and his teammates, though, it is not just the desire to end that title drought that is driving them on, the culture and passion they have created within the squad and a particular theme is also proving an inspiration.

“It is about making your own legacy in the jersey,” he explained.

“We came up with a theme about the New Zealand soldiers who used to come to Italy, so we based ourselves on them and the second division that came here to fight in the war.

“It is kind of like us being the soldiers and fighting for something and that is the trophy … every day is a new battle so we just have to keep marching forward.”

His England counterpart Charlie Ewels already knows what it feels like to be crowned a world champion having been part of the squad that beat South Africa 21-20 at Eden Park last year and is eager to experience that feeling again.

“It was a pretty special moment for me, the highlight of my relatively short career so far,” explained Ewels, whose side scraped into the semi-finals as the best runner-up but then beat top seeds South Africa 28-20 to keep alive hopes of a third successive title for England.

“It would be awesome if we could emulate that this Saturday.

SWITCHED ON

“I think it would just represent the hard work we’ve put in for these last four weeks and throughout the season. If you look at the side that started out in the Six Nations and the side now people probably wouldn’t recognise the style of rugby we are playing.

“Ultimately you come into the competition to put yourself in the final and compete for the trophy so everyone is really excited and can’t wait.”

The respect for each other’s sides is inevitably mutual.

“They’ve been good,” Ewels said of New Zealand. “They have got some fantastic individuals and play a real good brand of rugby so we’re going to have to be switched on.

“Ultimately you come to these tournaments to play against the best in the world so that’s where we want to be.”

Moli added: “We know it is a final and we know England are going to come at us strongly and we are preparing for a big match. England have got a couple of big boys in their group, so we’ll have to chop them low. Our aim is to front up and just play how we play.”

While the final will be the focus of attention at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, the first match of the day in Cremona will be equally important to the two nations involved with the threat of relegation to the World Rugby U20 Trophy in 2016 looming large over Samoa and hosts Italy.

Neither side is a stranger to the 11th place play-off with Italy having survived by the skin of their teeth last year, beating Fiji 22-17 to condemn the Pacific Islanders to the Trophy in 2015. They have also both been relegated to their second tier, Samoa in 2010 and Italy in 2012.

The two met on day three with Samoa edging it 30-24 but crucially failing to secure a fourth try for the bonus point that would have put them – and not Scotland – into the fifth to eighth banding. Defeats to Japan and Argentina respectively, then set Samoa and Italy on collision course once again.

Sandwiched between these matches is the third place play-off between France and South Africa, who will be wanting to finish the tournament on a high after the disappointment of missing out on the final.

“There is no hiding from the fact that the result against England was a huge disappointment,” admitted captain Hanro Liebenberg. “However, we will take that as a motivation to finish the tournament hopefully on a positive note with a win in our last match.

“We have one match left to do our country proud and we are highly motivated to play France on Saturday.”

The action gets underway in Viadana at 11:00 local time when Argentina face Japan in the ninth place play-off with the Asian side already guaranteed their best finish in U20 Championship history.

Los Pumitas will be disappointed to find themselves in this play-off after two heart-breaking losses in the pool stages, to a last play of the game penalty against Ireland on day one and another late penalty against eventual finalists New Zealand four days later.

The seventh place play-off will be a repeat of the Pool C encounter between Ireland and Scotland, one the Irish edged 24-20 on day two in Calvisano. Scotland won their Six Nations meeting earlier in the year and go into the match knowing their best ever finish is already guaranteed.

The final match of the Championship at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana will be the fifth place play-off between Australia and Wales, one the former’s captain Andrew Kellaway insisted they have to win because “to come fifth is what we want to do, what we need to do and the only thing we can do.”

RBC World Rugby U20 Championships Final Day

Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona

3rd Place Play Off

FRA +10½ -130 versus SAF

FRA +9½ -125 versus SAF

FRA +5½ 1H -130 versus SAF

FRA/SAF o48½ -125

FRA/SAF o49½ -120

FRA/SAF o23½ -125 1H

Championship

NZL -6½ -130 over ENG

.NZL -7½ -125 over ENG

NZL -2½ -130 1H over ENG

NZL/ENG u41½ +120

NZL/ENG u43½ +100

NZL/ENG u22½ 1H -130

RBC World Rugby U20 Championships Final Day

Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona

3rd Place Play Off

FRA +10½ -130 versus SAF

FRA/SAF o48½ -125

Championship

NZL -6½ -130 over ENG

NZL/ENG u41½ +120