Defending champions France, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and hosts South Africa each opened the World Rugby U20 Championship with a win, while England and Ireland played to a dramatic draw.
After a three-year wait, the World Rugby U20 Championship finally made a return to the rugby calendar on Saturday with 405 points scored across six enthralling matches in Paarl and Stellenbosch.
Argentina and Italy kicked off proceedings at Paarl Gymnasium with Los Pumitas making the most of an early red card to Italy’s Destiny Aminu to win 43-15.
The second match of the day at the venue couldn’t have been any closer as England and Ireland were tied at 34-34 in what is only the second drawn pool match in U20 Championship history.
Only a point would separate the sides in the third and final match of the day in Paarl, a strong second-half performance seeing New Zealand recover from 19-5 down at half time against Wales, and then surviving a late fightback to win 27-26 and claim their 50th victory in U20 Championship history.
France got the action underway at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, the two-time defending champions proving too strong for a resilient Japan with an emphatic 75-12 victory.
Australia, the side beaten in the 2019 final by France, had a much trickier encounter against Fiji in a match which kept fans on the edge of their seats with the Junior Wallabies coming from behind late on to triumph 46-37.
Fast hands and fast feet
Gassing away is Waqa Nalaga for Fiji ??#WorldRugbyU20s | @fijirugby pic.twitter.com/k5Ypd54GeM
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 24, 2023
“He is lightning quick!” ⚡
Darby Lancaster is making his presence known as the @wallabies re-take the lead #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/DovWFrdnfn
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 24, 2023
That left it to hosts South Africa, on the 28th anniversary of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup 1995 success on home soil, to bring the curtain down on an entertaining day of rugby with a hard-fought 33-23 defeat of Georgia in Pool C.
The tournament continues on Thursday, 29 June with the second round of pool matches. The Pool B encounter between Australia and Ireland will get things underway in Paarl at 11am (SA time) before France and New Zealand – with eight U20 Championship titles between them – come face to face in Pool A at 1.30pm and South Africa tackle Italy in Pool C at 4pm
Over at Danie Craven Stadium, Wales will meet Japan in their Pool A encounter at 2pm before Argentina tackle Georgia at 16:30 and England meet Fiji at 7pm.
Things are looking good for @FranceRugby, @wallabies and @unionargentina after round one ? #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/RkqaiJtXE2
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 24, 2023
Photo: Twitter/@WorldRugby