The World Rugby U20 Championship 2025 final on Saturday in the Italian city of Rovigo will be between New Zealand and South Africa at 20:30 (SA Time), a repeat of the 2012 title decider involving two sides desperate to end a long wait to be crowned champions again on the global stage.
Fans in the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana were treated to two enthralling semi-finals on Monday, starting with a repeat of the 2024 battle between France and New Zealand, which had yielded an incredible 86 points with Les Bleuets running out 55-31 winners in South Africa.
New Zealand raced out to a 14-0 lead but were reeled back in not once but twice in the first half as France made them pay for 28 missed tackles to only trail by five at the break after Fabien Brau-Boirie's late slice through the defence.
The second half was a much tighter affair, New Zealand's defence keeping France at bay for the first 20 minutes before two yellow cards in quick succession looked to open the door for Les Bleuets. However, New Zealand did not concede a point while men down and ultimately ran out 34-26 winners to reach a first final since they won the title for a sixth time in 2017.
South Africa's wait for a second title is even longer, having won the only previous final between New Zealand and the Junior Springboks on home soil at a sold-out Newlands in 2012. They could not have made a better start against Los Pumitas, centre Albie Bester dotting down in the ninth minute before they claimed the restart and burst downfield for lively scrum-half Hassiem Pead to finish off the move.
The lead was 28-3 inside 25 minutes with the Junior Springboks threatening to run away with the match, but Argentina dug in and gave themselves hope just before half-time when number eight Agustín Garcia Campos Fiszman powered over the line.
Argentina cut the deficit to 11 points when Timoteo Silva went over, but South Africa were in no mood to allow Los Pumitas any closer with Vusi Moyo kicking two penalties before Bester ran clear for his second of the game to seal a 48-24 victory for his side.
The opening game in Viadana was a tight affair with Wales eager to repeat their U20 Six Nations victory over England. Sion Davies' try gave Wales a 13-12 lead at half-time, but three tries in an eight-minute spell around the hour mark proved decisive as the outgoing champions cantered to a 51-13 victory that guarantees them a top-six finish in 2025.
England will face Australia in that fifth-place play-off in Calvisano, having won their pool meeting 33-30 thanks to a late penalty on 9 July. The Junior Wallabies burst out of the blocks with two tries in the first six minutes against tournament hosts Italy in Verona, Aden Ekanayake and Shane Wilcox setting them on the way to a 44-21 win.
Georgia will face Scotland in the ninth-place play-off after proving too strong for Spain in the opening match in Verona, number eight Mikheili Shioshvili scoring a hat-trick as the Junior Lelos' power told in a 43-12 victory.
Scotland, by contrast, left it late to seal a 22-21 victory at Payanini Center with a last-gasp try by replacement prop Jake Shearer, giving them the win over Ireland, who had battled back from 17-7 down. Ireland will now face Spain in the 11th play-off.