-
England comfortably beat South Africa 39-17 to reach World Under 20 Championship final
-
Ireland are also through after producing a superb performance to oust Argentina 37-7
-
Elsewhere there were wins for France, Georgia, New Zealand and Scotland
Ireland will have to overcome hosts England if they are to become the first Ireland side to win the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Placed in a group with Grand Slam champions Wales and holders New Zealand, nobody gave the Irish much of a chance of progressing.
However, after beating the two heavyweights in the group, as well as Georgia, Ireland followed it up with another stunning 31-7 win over Argentina in the semi-final this evening to reach the final.
Santiago Pulella’s red card in the 71st minute was the final nail in the contest as Argentina struggled to live with the Irish throughout the 80 minutes.
England also made light work of their semi-final this evening, recording a 39-17 win against South Africa at the Manchester City Academy Stadium.
The tournament hosts outscored the Junior Boks by six tries to two and played so well in the first half that in fact they led 31-3 at the break.
England have won two of the past three titles (2013 and 2014) and this will be their fourth straight final but it was the Irish who prevailed when the two sides clashed in the U20 Six Nations earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, Wales went from an agonising defeat to New Zealand to a 71-12 hammering at the hands of the Baby Blacks in the space of five days at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Liam Wright’s converted try ensured that Australia will advance to the fifth-place final to take on New Zealand later this week as they overcame Scotland 28-19.
Georgia also continued their rise in the rugby world, overcoming Italy narrowly 18-17 while France regained some pride with a comfortable 41-27 win against Japan.