World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont expresses confidence in Kenya and South Africa’s ability to deliver exceptional tournaments as they host the World U20 Trophy and World Rugby U20 Championship.

After a hiatus caused by COVID-19, these tournaments mark the return of age-grade competitions.

Beaumont hails Kenya

Beaumont commended both countries for their past hosting performances and anticipates enthusiastic local crowds at the events.

With just under three months remaining until Rugby World Cup 2023, the consecutive hosting of the U20 tournaments in Africa serves as an exciting buildup.

 “Africa hosting two World Rugby U20 tournaments consecutively will be exciting to witness and serves as the perfect build-up to Rugby World Cup 2023 which is just under three months away,” Beaumont told World Rugby.

“Both South Africa and Kenya have proven their ability to host global age-grade competitions in the past and I have no doubt that these editions will be successful with great interest from local crowds.

“Exciting, hard-fought rugby played in great spirit is always the order of the day, and I am confident that the forthcoming tournaments will be no different,” he concluded.

The World Rugby U20 Trophy 2023 is set to begin in a month with an exciting opening match between Zimbabwe and Scotland U20 at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. All matches will take place at this venue from July 15th to 30th.

This will be Kenya’s second time hosting the U20 Trophy, previously doing so in 2009 when it was known as the Junior World Rugby Trophy.

Kenya’s fourth-place finish in that tournament, marked by a 19-17 defeat to Chile in the third-place play-off, remains their best U20 Trophy performance to date.

In addition to competing for the trophy, the eight participating teams will vie for a spot in the World Rugby U20 Championship next year in South Africa.

Promotion

The tournament winners will earn a promotion to the U20 Championship, replacing the team that finishes at the bottom of the competition, which will then drop down to the U20 Trophy in 2024.

The USA secured the final spot in the World Rugby U20 Trophy field after a two-legged North American play-off against Canada, winning 82-35 on aggregate.

Having last participated in the U20 Trophy in 2016, the Junior All-Americans aim to replicate their 2012 success when they claimed the trophy on home soil in Utah.

Scotland is the only team new to the U20 Trophy, having been relegated from the U20 Championship in 2019.

The other participating teams, including Uruguay, USA, and Spain, have all previously played in the tournament, with some even securing victories.

The tournament will consist of 16 matches played over a span of 15 days. The group stage will feature three match days, with each team playing three matches within their respective pools.

The final and ranking matches will be held on the last day of the tournament to determine the overall winner and final rankings.

The tournament winner will earn a promotion to the World U20 Championship in 2024, which will be held in the southern hemisphere.

World U20 Trophy Pools

Pool A: Scotland, Uruguay, USA and Zimbabwe

Pool B: Hong Kong, Kenya, Samoa, and Spain

World Rugby U20 Trophy Match Schedule:

Match Day 1 – Saturday, 15 July:

Match Day 2 – Thursday, 20 July:

Match Day 3 – Tuesday, 25 July:

Final and Ranking Matches – Sunday, 30 July:

• 7th Place Match: Fourth-placed team from Pool A vs Fourth-placed team from Pool B
• 5th Place Match: Third-placed team from Pool A vs Third-placed team from Pool B
• 3rd Place Match: Second-placed team from Pool A vs Second-placed team from Pool B
• Final: First-placed team from Pool A vs First-placed team from Pool B