Junior World Championship - latest

White Heat: England take the fight to France

Follow all the latest from 2010 IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina as the play-off places are decided...

New Zealand 43-10 Wales

New Zealand confirmed their place in the IRB Junior World Championship 2010 semi finals after beating Wales 43-10 with a clinical display at the Estadio CA Colon in Santa Fe on Sunday to top Pool A.

The two-time defending champions ran in six tries to see off the challenge of Wales, picking up their eight bonus point victory in nine Junior World Championship pool matches and extending their unbeaten run to 13.

With captain Tyler Bleyendaal and scrum half Tawera Kerr-Barlow combining well together to cut open the Welsh defence, particularly in the second half, and the Baby Blacks' forwards creating a strong platform the backs to shine there only ever looked one winner.

Bleyendaal had kicked the Baby Blacks into the lead with a second minute penalty and then gave Wales a timely reminder that any indiscretion around the halfway line was likely to be punished, the fly half putting a kick from his own 10 metre line slightly wide of the posts.

New Zealand's first try came in the eighth minute, lively scrum half Tawera Kerr-Barlow picking up from the breakdown and darting through a gap left by Welsh captain Josh Navidi to race clear, Bleyendaal kicking the conversion to keep the scoring at more than a point a minute.

Bleyendaal saw a penalty from the halfway line strike the uprights, but it wasn't long before the Baby Blacks increased their advantage, Kerr-Barlow's no look pass allowing wing Julian Savea to bounce off the Welsh defence to touch down in the corner.

Matthew Jarvis finally got Wales on the score board in the 19th minute with a penalty to make it 17-3, but despite some good defence keeping the Baby Blacks at bay it was another piece of class from Savea that kept the scoreboard ticking over.

The New Zealand Sevens star, who scored a record equalling four tries against Samoa in the last match, caught the ball on the left wing, cut across the pitch and slipping a tackle by Ashley Beck before darting through the gap to touch down his sixth try of the tournament.

Bleyendaal curled the conversion in again to push New Zealand through the 600-point barrier in Junior World Championship history, but the next score went to Wales when hooker Rhys Williams powered over the line for only the fourth try the Baby Blacks have conceded in nine pool matches.

Unfortunately for the Baby Blacks they lost Savea not long after with the wing appearing to injury his hip, but having settled again the bonus point was secured in the 36th minute when a long pass from Kerr-Barlow cut out three Welsh defenders, allowing Telusa Veainu to send Tom Marshall over in the corner.

It took a while, though, for New Zealand to increase their 31-10 half time advantage, a combination of the plucky Welsh defence and the Baby Blacks' decision to throw the ball wide more rather than the pick and goes that had worked so well in the first half.

Having gone close several times, the sin-binning of Welsh prop Will Taylor at the hour mark finally got the scoreboard ticking over again, Veainu - moved to the wing after Savea's exit - benefited from a back-flip pass from Kerr-Barlow to race clear.

Bleyendaal's vision was constantly finding gaps in the defence, both for himself and his teammates, and led to New Zealand's final try, catching James Loxton out of the line to give Marshall space to score his second of the game.

Replacement Hayden Parker was unlucky not to score a brilliant solo try, his chip ahead bouncing just over his head, to leave the Baby Blacks now forced to wait to see who their opponents in the semi finals on Thursday will be.

England 17-9 France

The reliable boot of Freddie Burns once again proved decisive as England ran out 17-9 winners over France in their Pool B decider at the Estadio El Coloso del Parque in Rosario to take their place in the IRB Junior World Championship 2010 semi finals.

Ignoring the wet and windy conditions which saw both sides struggle to control the ball, the England full back calmly slotted three penalties with centre Jamie Gibson scoring the only try of the match on Sunday.

France, who were bidding to make the Junior World Championship semi finals for the first time, dominated for much of the first half before fly half Jean Marc Doussain kicked a penalty to open the scoring.

With the Jamie George-led side taking a while to find their footing, France managed to hold their opponents scoreless for the first quarter until an indiscretion in front of the posts gave Burns the opportunity level the scores with a penalty.

Doussain edged France ahead once more, but with both sides eager to finish top of the Pool any attacking play was soon shut down, allowing little opportunity to cross the whitewash and put some distance between them and their rivals.

France came closest to a try in the dying few minutes of the first half when England were penalised for not releasing, giving their opponents a five-metre scrum. However, an outstanding push and drive by centre Remi Lamerat saw him held up over the line.

With his side trailing 6-3 and clearly eager to his players stamp more authority on the game, England coach Mapletoft quickly brought on forwards Alex Gray and Jacko Wray, along with full back Tom Homer, to inject some impetus.

The tactic worked as England became difficult to stop, producing wave after wave of attack and frustration finally got the better of Lamerat when he was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle by referee Fransisco Pastrana.

England, runners up to New Zealand in the two previous JWC finals, capitalised on their man advantage within minutes, centre Gibson charging up the touchline before stepping inside the French defence to touch down and give his side the lead for the first time.

The cushion could have been extended beyond 11-6 were it not for Homer - who became the all-time top point scorer in Junior World Championship history in the last round - missing two penalties right in front of the posts just past the hour mark.

Gilles Bosch ensured France remained touch with a 76th minute penalty, but England had the final say with Burns landing a penalty in the dying minutes to deny their opponents even a losing bonus point.

Scotland 27-3 Tonga

Scotland bounced back from a heavy loss to South Africa to beat Tonga 27-3 in their Pool C encounter at the Club Atlético Estudiantes in Paraná.

The two sides had met in the ninth place play-off in last year's tournament in Japan, the Scots edging a tightly-fought encounter 28-25 and both knew that victory was must this time out to guarantee their place in the 2011 Championship in Italy.

Scotland, beaten 73-0 by South Africa four days earlier, played better as the game progressed in Paraná but still made a number of handling errors against a Tongan outfit who imposed their traditional style of play through their forwards.

Tonga, though, could not take advantage of their opportunities with throws going astray in the lineouts and kicks missing the uprights, unlike the reliable boot of Scotland fly half Duncan Weir whose only miss was a drop goal attempt.

Weir opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a penalty and then added the extras to centre Jonny Kennedy's 13th minute try. Jonnie Morath-Hansen and Manu Soatame then both missed a kick, before Weir's second penalty gave Scotland a 13-0 half-time lead.

Both sides were guilty of making errors in the second half, but after Soatame finally got Tonga on the scoreboard with an early penalty, Michael Maltman and captain Stuart McInally both crossed for tries - converted by Weir.

Tonga will get a chance to avenge this loss when the two sides meet against in Paraná on Thursday, with the winner to face either Ireland or Samoa for ninth place and the loser facing a must-win encounter with the 12th ranked side relegated to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in 2011.

Samoa 12-15 Fiji

A last gasp 50-metre dash by Iromi Dawai enabled Fiji to snatch a 15-12 win over Samoa in their final Pool A match.

The flanker's last minute try at the Club Atletico Estudiantes in Paraná gave Fiji their first win in the tournament and guarantees them their best ever finish as they will play-off now for fifth to eight places.

Only two tries were scored in the match between the two Pacific island nations with a battle of the boot between Fijian full back Josh Matavesi - who has already played for his country's test side - and Samoa's fly half Patrick Fa'apale.

Samoa's strong defensive effort in the first half meant Fiji were unable to gain any real advantage from their long periods on attack, with a Matavesi penalty providing their only points in the first half.

Fa'apale kicked two penalties to send Samoa in with a slender 6-3 advantage at the half time, a scoreline which should have changed within minutes of the restart only Matavesi missed with a penalty attempt.

The miss may have proved costly were it not for the efforts of Fiji replacement second row Jovesa Tanikorolevu, who minutes after Matavesi's miss dived over the line to give his side an 8-6 lead.

Fa'apale kicked another two penalties to edge Samoa back in front, but his efforts proved to be in vain when Dawai crossed for the winning try to earn his side a meeting with France on Thursday, while their fellow islanders will meet Ireland in the knowledge they must win one of their two remaining games to remain in the Junior World Championship field in 2011.South Africa 35-42 Australia

Australia edged past South Africa 42-35 in an enthralling end to end affair at the Estadio CA Colon in Santa Fe on Sunday to finish top of Pool C, although both sides will progress to the IRB Junior World Championship semi finals with the Baby Boks as the best runners up.

The crowd of 10,000 was barely able to look away from the action for a minute with chances created out of nothing by sides who had been free-scoring in their previous pool matches against Scotland and Tonga.

South Africa, who beat Australia 32-5 in the third place play-off in last year's tournament in Japan, were handed the dream start with a second minute penalty, which full back Patrick Lambie made no mistake with.

Australia lost scrum half Justin Turner to a serious looking knee injury minutes later, but were fortunate to be able to bring on Nicolas White, the hat-trick hero in a 67-5 win over Tonga four days earlier.

Even so, they quickly found themselves down 8-0 after as many minutes when half backs Louis Schreuder and Elton Jantjies combined well to send wing Wandile Mjekevu over for the game's opening try.

The start may not have been what Australian coach David Nucifora was hoping for, but he would have been pleased with their resolve, a wonderful breakout and race down the touchline by centre Robbie Coleman resulting in a try for Dominic Shipperley.

Matt Toomua, who toured with the Wallabies last November, kicked the conversion and a penalty to give Australia the lead for the first time, although a knock on by Phoenix Battye proved costly when Jaco Taute raced away with Lambie getting the final touch down.

Once more, though, the classy Coleman single-handedly dragged Australia back into the lead, instantly spotting he had two forwards in front of him and racing through the gap to give Toomua a straightforward conversion to give his side a lead they would never surrender.

Things got even better for Australia when Shipperley picked up his second try, the 19-year-old cutting the perfect line off his wing to slice through the defence with his pace taking him past would-be tacklers to touch down with Toomua's conversion making it 24-13.

South Africa, though, were handed a lifeline with seconds remaining until half time, Australia electing to run the ball out and losing it, allowing prop Marcel van der Merwe to drag three opponents over the line and still turn over to ground the ball.

Within minutes of the restart, Lambie - who played Super 14 rugby for the Sharks this season - cut the deficit to 24-23 with his second penalty, but again Australia hit back with Kimami Sitauti's miss-pass finding Shipperley with only a prop between him and try-line.

Jantjies thought he had scored within minutes, but referee Garratt Williamson ruled that the Baby Boks fly half had lost the ball forward. However it proved only a temporary respite with Lambie drawing the defence before releasing Mjekevu to race over the line.

His second try of the game, allied with Lambie's conversion, brought the Baby Boks back to within a point at 31-30, but Australia would have reasserted their advantage had it not been a for captain CJ Stander's charge to beat Aidan Toua to the grounding.

Australia, though, were not to be denied as Toomua kicked a penalty and then minutes later Ed Quirk touched down his side's fifth try, the flanker having the strength to dot the ball down to make it 39-30 and leave South Africa needing two tries to regain the lead.

They got one of them when replacement Branco du Preez broke through the Australian defence and the impressive Taute managed to ground the ball in the corner, despite Luke Morahan trying to push him into touch first.

Lambie crucially missed the conversion, meaning that Toomua's 77th minute penalty - which took his own haul to 17 points in the match - left South Africa needing a converted try to tie the match. They pushed forward but failed to find it to leave Australia celebrating the win.

Both sides will now relocate to Rosario for the remainder of the tournament, with South Africa to face two-time defending champions New Zealand in one semi-final while Australia tackle England in the other on Thursday, 17 June.

Argentina 24-21 Ireland

Argentina finally gave their fans something to celebrate by beating Ireland 24-21at the Estadio El Coloso del Parque in Rosario for their first victory of the tournament.

Los Pumitas' dreams of reaching the semi finals on home soil had disappeared after defeats by England and France, but they knew that victory over the Under 20 Six Nations champions would ensure their place in next year's Junior World Championship in Italy.

Ireland, robbed of their inspirational captain Rhys Ruddock after his call up to join the senior side in New Zealand, dominated for large periods of the first half thanks largely to the efforts of fly half James McKinney.

Flanker Jordi Murphy's try in the 16th minute, together with two penalties from the boot of McKinney, saw Ireland surge out to a 13-0 lead in the battle of the two Pool B sides still searching for a victory in the tournament.

Argentina finally got on the scoreboard late in the first half when flanker Gonzalo Vila made the most of an overlap to touch down, scrum half Santiago Mendez adding the conversion before curling a penalty in between the uprights minutes later.

The two sides would go in locked at 13-13 after fly half Ignacio Rodriguez Muedra's drop goal right on half time, much to the delight of the partisan crowd in the stands who sensed a first victory could be on the cards for Los Pumitas.

McKinney missed a penalty within minutes of the restart and Argentina seized their chance, flanker Tomas de la Vega capitalising on a broken defensive line to stretch out and score his fourth try in his last five Junior World Championship appearances.

Another penalty by McKinney kept Ireland in touch, but after Argentina missed with a drop goal attempt, Mendez kicked a penalty from in front of the posts to give his side a 24-16 lead and raise the volume of their fans.

There would be one more score though, McKinney playing a major role in Ireland's second try, firing a behind the back pass to David Doyle which allowed the replacement to cross for a try in the dying seconds to give Ireland a consolation losing bonus point.

Play-offs:All June 17

Tournament semi-finals:
Australia v England
New Zealand v South Africa

5th place semi-finals:
Wales v Argentina
France v Fiji

9th place semi-finals:
Ireland v Samoa
Scotland v Tonga

With thanks to the IRB