England topple France in Under-20 Final to claim fourth title
WRAP: England denied defending champions France a fourth consecutive U20 title by defeating them 21-13 in the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The two in-form teams squared off at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday, July 19 in what was a hard fought but exciting clash between the two U20 Six Nations rivals.
France opened the scoring with a penalty kick by flyhalf Hugo Reus in the 11th minute when England centre Sean Kerr was penalised for being offside.
France seemed to be in full control when Ferte went over to score after a cross kick - but after a TMO intervention it was ruled that a forward pass occured just over the 10 metre line of England.
Much like last week - England's scrum gave them good field position which is exactly what happened as France conceded a scrum penalty.
England kicked to the line to set a lineout inside the France 22 when another indiscretion occured by France.
England went to the corner through Kerr and went over the line through a rolling maul but was held up.
France ran a set-move off a lineout with the ball quickly played to Ferte who nearly got in but was high tackled by Wills into touch which resulted in a penalty.
France went to the corner and won the lineout, albeit untidy and they played it through the hands with sceumhalf Leo Carbonneau giving a long pass which got intercepted and kicked ahead by Wills and Carbonneau who did well to drop back cleared it into touch for a high territorial gain for England.
Play went back and forth with discipline being an issue for both sides at critical times.
France conceded a penalty just inside their own half - as England went to the line and set up a rolling maul which got them within five-metres.
Some slick hands from Kerr to Coen who found Jones brought them centimetres short but then the follow up by lock Joe Bailey to pick and drive got them over the line for the opening try in the 35th minute which Kerr converted.
Carbonneau reclaimed the restart ball which they attacked from and had a penalty advantage - which was called over after nine phases on attack but very few meters made in the process when England knocked the ball on in the tackle to gift France the scrum feed, which France earned the scrum penalty from as the hooter sounded.
Reus slotted the penalty to make it a one-point-game heading into the sheds.
The second-half started with drama when the TMO stepped in for a high tackle by France No.8 Castro-Ferreira which saw him being yellow carded.
England went for the lineout and attacked off it and got the penalty at the breakdown which Kerr slotted in the 47th minute.
Wills showed great initiative when on attack he turned Ferte with a cross kick - with chasers pressuring him saw the France fullback knock it on five metres from his own line which resulted in an attacking England scrum.
England's scrum proved to be on the money again when they pushed the France pack back and replacement loose forward Green dotted down for England's second try in the 51st minute.
Kerr slotted another penalty in the 56th minute for a late tackle to add more pressure on France.
France had an opportunity to strike back after setting up a five metre lineout from a penalty - with France looking to play quick Ferte tapped the ball on to get it wide but it went forward as England's rush defence shut them down time and time again.
England proved to be tactically the better side with the boot in the final 20 minutes as they drove France back making them play from deep knowing the scoreboard is in their favour.
England got a scrum penalty in front of the posts yet again which Kerr slotted in the 67th minute and France didn't make matters easier for themselves when Reus' restart didn't travel the required 10 meters.
France won a penalty after England was deemed to be offside and set up a lineout eight metres from the England line and had a good maul but was undone when it broke down and England won the penalty for holding on.
England had a scrum in the final minute which they played the clock for the first 40 seconds but then opted to kick which backfired as France gave it a go when Reus on the wing got his pass inside to Mousques who found Ferte on his inside who had the final say as the fulltime siren sounded but it was all too late as England bagged their fourth World Rugby U20 Championship for the first time since 2016.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942221|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
New Zealand outclass Ireland to clinch Bronze
New Zealand put on a clinical and classy second-half display to claim bronze in the World Rugby Under-20 third and fourth place play-off at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday.
New Zealand started with the better momentum in the opening 10 minutes with back to back penalties - which they couldn't convert into points.
New Zealand had an attacking scrum but gave the free-kick away for an early shove.
Ireland finally got into their rhythm with fullback Ben O'Connor having a strong first half when he had a strong run before being tackled but New Zealand got penalised for a side entry which gave Ireland the opportunity to go for the lineout.
Ireland had a maul that went down but then had another penalty advantage for offside to which Ireland went for another maul followed by keeping it tight with the pick and go and scrumhalf Oliver Coffey sniping to dot down under the posts.
New Zealand attacked inside the Ireland half but a strip in the tackle by centre Finn Treacy and a kick ahead saw the kick return taken by O'Connor and he ran it straight back on the wing - breaking the tackles and getting his pass away to flyhalf Jack Murphy who dotted down in the corner in the 32nd minute for a 12-0 lead after failing to convert his own try.
New Zealand upped the intensity and got on the attack and worked themselves inside the Ireland 22.
Ireland were scrambling to keep New Zealand out but illegally so when flank Bryn Ward was yellow carded for cynical play and quick play by hooker and captain Vernon Bason saw him go over the line for the try to get New Zealand on the board on the stroke of half time.
New Zealand had an attacking opportunity off a lineout after offside play by Ireland but the breakdown was sloppy and the penalty was awarded to Ireland for playing the ball on the ground.
The match was stopped as Ireland hooker Stephen Smyth was laying on the ground in visible pain and the replay on the big screen caused the TMO to step in which saw wing Frank Vaenuku being yellow carded under bunker review for a dangerous tip tackle on Smyth - with the bunker deciding that it would remain a yellow card.
New Zealand struck almost immediately after conceding the yellow card when centres Aki Tuivailala and Xavi Taele combined with Tuivailala breaking the line and offloading to Taele who slid over the line with Simpson converting to level matters in the 45th minute.
Tuivailala set up another score two minutes later as he put his captain Bason in a gap that ran like a centre to dot down in the corner for his brace and New Zealand taking the lead for the first time in the match.
New Zealand controlled the second half and had a penalty for offside in the 52nd minute which New Zealand went for the lineout which was lost and cleared to touch.
They won the following lineout and attacked off it well into the Ireland 22 but prop Josh Smith was denied a try due to a forward pass
Ireland won the scrum but a New Zealand hand in the tackle which saw the ball to into touch saw Ireland opt for the lineout which backfired when it was stolen and New Zealand went wide to replacement loose forward JeremiahAvei-Collins dot down in the 57th minute to record 24 unanswered points at that stage of the match.
New Zealand had a scrum in their own 22 and Taele slotted a 50/22 to give his team an attacking lineout, but after winning the lineout ball Ireland won a penalty at the breakdown.
Tactically New Zealand were the best team in the second half as they kept pinning Ireland back in their own half.
New Zealand stole a lineout and worked it wide as Ireland desperately defended but it wasn't enough as a cross kick by Simpson saw Vaenuku make up for his earlier yellow card to score the 68th minute.
The pressure kept mounting on Ireland as Avei-Collins proved to be a hand full since coming off the bench by getting over the advantage line - with quick hands and offloading by New Zealand saw Vaenuku dot down for his brace which was converted by Simpson in the 73rd minute.
Ireland showed great fight in the final five minutes - with a good attacking run resulted in a penalty and 10 extra metres for back chatting by Avei-Collins saw Ireland go quickly and building phases before going wide to replacement Ethan Graham who went over in the corner for their first points in the second-half.
Ireland didn't stop there as Corrigan flicked an offload inside to Treacy who ran straight and past one defender before passing to centre mate Hugh Gavin to go over in the 79th minute.
Ireland ran from deep inside their 22 and then Murphy kicked it over the top to which Simpson kicked to touch to call it a match and clinch the bronze medal for New Zealand.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942219|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
Argentina outlast Australia in Athlone mudbath
The two U20 Rugby Championship sides met at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on a wet and muddy pitch which both teams struggled to adapt to in the fifth place play-off match.
It was Australia who opened the scoring as soon as the second minute with a successful penalty attempt by flyhalf Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
Australia went down to 14 players when centre Kadin Pritchard was yellow carded and Argentina got on the try scoring sheet first when wing Timoteo Silva dotted down for Los Pumitas in the 26th minute.
Moments before half-time - it was Argentina who conceded a yellow card when centre Tomas Medina got an extended rest.
It had little to no effect in terms of scoring as both sides failed to get onto the scoreboard despite Australia having an extra player but then centre Australia Jarrah McLeod was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle to which flyhalf Santino di Lucca slotted the penalty to extend the lead.
Two minutes later Argentina conceded a yellow card of their own and McLaughlin Philips slotted a penalty to stay in touch in the 61st minute to get back within two points.
Australia's discipline and game management in the final 20 minutes proved to be costly and they conceded two kicable penalties which Di Lucca slotted to earn the South Americans a hard fought win.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942217|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
Junior Boks overpower Wales to end campaign on a high
In the seventh and eighth place play-off of the World Rugby U20 Championship at the Cape Town Stadium - South Africa bounced back with a convincing win over Wales following a string of losses after a win in their tournament opener against Fiji.
South Africa had a penalty and opted to go for the corner off which they set a maul, but Wales repelled that onslaught to get the turnover and scrum feed.
Wales absorbed a lot of pressure as the hosts were physical from the outset but couldn't do it for sustained periods when prop and captain Zachary Porthen broke the tackle of Wales prop Kian Hire and stepped hooker Isaac Young for a great individual score to open the scoring in the eighth minute.
The Welsh started slipping tackles and giving attacking opportunities to the hosts when No.8 Sibabalwe Mahashe and lock JF van Heerden scored in the 21st and 31st minutes respectively to give the hosts a healthy 19-0 lead.
Wales fought bravely and kept themselves in the fight when they breached the defence and wing Walker Price dotted down in the 35th minute for an unconverted try which saw the Junior Springboks head into the break leading 19-5.
South Africa started the stronger of the two sides after the break with great interplay hetween flyhalf Tyloor Sefoor who got his pass away to centre Joshua Boulle who found Mahashe who dotted down for his brace in the 46th minute.
Wales had an attacking scrum just inside SA territory and played quick hands to the wing that saw the Cape Town born Aidan Boshoff score against the country of his birth.
South Africa had an opportunity to strike back again when captain Porthen bursted through a few tackle attempts and got his offload away to get SA inside the 22 of Wales but that tot undone by a knock on 5 metres from the line by replacement outside back Albert-Philip van Niekerk.
The try eventually came when South Africa attacked off a lineout maul and had a penalty advantage for not rolling away, but it wasn't needed as Julius offloaded to Shirwood who got it back to Julius that grubber kicked it through for flank Bathobele Hlekani to dot down.
Wales seemed to be in with a chance when against the run of play replacement outside back Steffan Emanuel intercepted a long pass to go over under the posts for a converted try.
That score was soon cancelled out when Mahashe claimed the restart and won a few meters in the process set South Africa up to strike back - with a penalty advantage blown up scrumhalf Asad Moos took initiative to tap and go as he went over for the try.
South Africa counter rucked Wales that conceded the penalty for a side entry in the 66th minute.
South Africa went to the line and set up a maul which Bester broke away from and another penalty was awarded to the hosts.
Replacement Divan Fuller took the tap from the penalty and set up captain Porthen for his brace in the 68th minute.
Wales had the final say of the match with tries by wing Walker Price and replacement forward Owen Conquer in the 72nd and 82nd minutes respectively with Wilde slotting both conversions, but South Africa had done enough to claim 7th place.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942220|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
Georgia upset Italy to claim ninth place
In the ninth and 10th place playoff at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town - Georgia claimed a stunning win over Italy to finish strong in the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Italy drew first blood with a penalty by scrumhalf Martino Pucciariello in the 10th minute but it was Georgia who opened the try scoring when flank Giorgi Gergedava dotted down in the 30th minute.
Italy struck back with a penalty five minutes later through Martino Pucciariello with play going well over the half-time hooter which saw replacement prop Federico Pisani yellow carded for cynical play in the red zone which lead to a try to lock Temur Tsulukidze after the siren which was converted by fullback Luka Tsirekidze to head into the break 12-6.
The floodgates opened in the final 20 minutes of the match when Georgia scored two tries in the 60th and 66th minutes respectively through centre Nugzari Kevkhishvili and wing Luka Keshelava of which Tsirekidze converted one for a solid 24-6 lead.
Italy had one more score through fullback Valerio Siciliano in the 69th minute but couldn't build on that to get the win as Georgia walked away with the spoils.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942218|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
Spain fight back to punish Ill disciplined Fiji
Spain fought back from a 14-point defecit to complete a remakable comeback in extra-time against an ill disciplined Fiji outfit in the 11th and 12th place playoff at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.
The match started at a frantic pace, with both sides showing willingness to give the ball air despite the terrible conditions that has been seen throughout the course of the tournament.
Spain wing Julien Burguillos was yellow carded as soon as the fourth minute of the match for cynical play after a linebreak by Fiji.
Both sides, especially Spain had plenty of opportunities to score but couldn't capitalise and in the 27th minute Fiji hooker Moses Armstrong-Ravula was yellow-carded after being warned for not releasing the tackled player in the red-zone twice.
The islanders seemed to get new life soon after their hooker's indiscretion as four minutes later flank Ratu Nemani Kurucake broke the deadlock to get the first points of the afternoon on the board through a converted try.
Spain had a scrum feed in the 36th minute but had a tighthead against them with Fiji winning possession and stringing their attack together and getting another penalty to which they set a lineout inside the 22 metre area of Spain.
The try followed soon after with Iowane Vakadrigi dotting down with Basiyalo slotting the conversion for a 14 point lead.
Spain stayed in the fight after Ill discipline by Fiji gave Spain an attacking lineout and hooker Diego Gonzalez Blanco dotting down to cut the lead for Fiji to 14-5 heading into half -time.
Fiji started the second stanza stronger with great attacking play by their outside backs to get them into the Spain half and play was stopped for an injury.
Fiji got the scrum feed to restart the match and it paid off as they worked it to the blindside with Basiyalo getting his offload away to Ronald Sharma for a try in the corner.
Spain then got a penalty as Fiji played a player in the air, with Spain going for the corner and have the maul going which was a weapon for them throughout the clash.
With two penalty advantages on their side Spain kept it tight to pick and drive and it paid off when flank Jokin Zolezzi dotted down in the 56th minute.
Discipline continued to be an issue for Fiji as flank Ratu Nemani Kurucake was yellow carded for cynical play in the red zone in the 67th minute.
Spain had an attacking scrum and seemed to be in as they went wide but a TMO called overruled the score as No.8 Valentino Rizzo knocked the ball on at the base of the scrum - but in the attack that lead to the disallowed try there were head on head contact by wing Waisake Salabiau and he was red carded in the process.
Spain scored a try to level matters in the 71st minute through flank Nicolas Moleti but couldn't capitalise with numerous scoring opportunities towards the end, with the match ending in a Spain maul being held up over the line to head into sudden death extra-time for the first time in the tournament.
The first half went scoreless with Nawai having a long range opportunity with a penalty to win it but was well short in the first half.
Both sides gave it everything with plenty of turnovers by both teams but the defining moment came when Spain had a penalty for holding on inside their own half and had set a lineout 5 metres from the Fiji line.
They had a maul collapsed illegally and threw the dice again with a second attempt at it and this time it paid off when replacement hooker David Gallego dotted down to seal the win and ensure Spain will remain in the U20 Championship after being promoted from their trophy win the year before.
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="216|942216|2024"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
England v France, 21-13
Scorers:
For England:
Tries: Green, Bailey
Con: Kerr
Pens: Kerr 3
For France:
Tries: Ferte
Con: Reus
Pens: Reus
Yellow card: Castro-Ferreira
Teams:
England: 15 Ioan Jones, 14 Ben Redshaw, 13 Ben Waghorn, 12 Sean Kerr, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Ollie Allan, 8 Kane James, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Finn Carnduff (captain), 5 Junior Kpoku, 4 Joe Bailey, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour.
Replacements: 16 James Isaacs, 17 Cameron Miell, 18 James Halliwell, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Arthur Green, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Josh Bellamy, 23 Angus Hall.
France: 15 Mathis Ferte, 14 Maxence Biasotto, 13 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 12 Robin Taccola, 11 Xan Mousques, 10 Hugo Reus (captain), 9 Leo Carbonneau, 8 Mathis Castro-Ferreira, 7 Geoffrey Malaterre, 6 Joe Quere Karaba, 5 Corentin Mezou, 4 Charly Gambini, 3 Thomas Duchene, 2 Barnabe Massa, 1 Lino Julien.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Lacombre, 17 Samuel Jean-Christophe, 18 Thomas Marceline, 19 Charles Kante Samba, 20 Brent Liufau, 21 Sialevailea Tolofua, 22 Mathys Belaubre, 23 Axel Desperes.
Referee: Takehito Namekawa
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White, Adam Jones
TMO: Matteo Liperini
Ireland v New Zealand, 24-38
Scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Coffey, Murphy, Graham, Naughton
Cons: Murphy 2
For New Zealand:
Tries: Taele, Collins, Bason 2, Vaenuku 2
Cons: Simpson 4
Yellow card: Vaenuku
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Davy Colbert, 13 Finn Treacy, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Hugo McLaughlin, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Oliver Coffey, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 Bryn Ward, 6 James McKillop, 5 Luke Murphy, 4 Alan Spicer, 3 Alex Mullan, 2 Stephen Smyth, 1 Emmet Calvey.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Yarr, 17 Ben Howard, 18 Andrew Sparrow, 19 Billy Corrigan, 20 Max Flynn, 21 Jake O’Riordan, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Ethan Graham.
New Zealand: 15 Sam Coles, 14 King Maxwell, 13 Aki Tuivailala, 12 Xavi Taele, 11 Frank Vaenuku, 10 Cooper Grant, 9 Dylan Pledger, 8 Johnny Lee, 7 Matt Lowe, 6 Andrew Smith, 5 Cameron Christie, 4 Tom Allen, 3 Josh Smith, 2 Vernon Bason (captain), 1 Senio Sanele.
Replacements: 16 A-One Lolofie, 17 Sika Pole, 18 William Martin, 19 Tai Cribb, 20 Jeremiah Avei-Collins, 21 Ben O-Donovan, 22 Rico Simpson, 23 Xavier Tito-Harris.
Referee: Saba Abulashvili
Assistant referees: Adam Jones, Neheun Jauri Rivero
TMO: Marius Jonker
Australia v Argentina, 6-14
Scorers:
For Australia:
Pens: McLaughlin-Phillips 2
For Argentina:
Try: Silva
Pens: Di Lucca 3
Teams:
Australia: 15 Shane Wilcox, 14 Ronan Leahy, 13 Kadin Pritchard, 12 Jarrah McLeod, 11 Archie Saunders, 10 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 9 Dan Nelson, 8 Jack Harley, 7 Dane Sawers, 6 Aden Ekanayake, 5 Harvey Cordukes, 4 Toby Macpherson (captain), 3 Nick Bloomfield, 2 Ottavio Tuipulotu, 1 Lington leli.
Replacements: 16 Oniti Finau, 17 Nathaniel Tiitii, 18 Trevor King, 19 Eamon Doyle, 20 Austin Durbidge, 21 Billy Dickens, 22 Boston Fakafuanua, 23 Angus Staniforth.
Argentina: 15 Benjamin Elizalde, 14 Timoteo Silva, 13 Tomas Medina, 12 Faustino Sanchez Valarolo, 11 Franco Rossetto, 10 Santino Di Lucca, 9 Tomas Di Biase, 8 Juan Bernasconi, 7 Santos Fernandez de Oliveira, 6 Ignacio Torrado, 5 Alvaro Garcia Iandolino, 4 Efrain Elias (captain), 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Marcos Camerlinckx, 1 Diego Correa
Replacements: Juan Greising Revol, 17 Estanislao Rodriguez, 18 Gael Galvan, 19 Juan Penoucos, 20 Agustin Sareli, 21 Jeronimo Llorens 22 Facundo Rodriguez, 23 Felipe Ledesma.
Referee: Morné Ferreira
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison, Dylen November
TMO: Ben Crouse
Wales v South Africa, 31-47
Scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Emanuel, Boshoff, Conquer, Price 2
Cons: Wilde 3
For South Africa:
Tries: Van Heerden, Moos, Hlekani, Mahashe 2, Porthen 2
Cons: Koen 2, Sefoor 4
Teams:
Wales: 15 Matty Young, 14 Walker Price, 13 Macs Page, 12 Louie Hennessey, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Harri Ford, 9 Rhodri Lewis, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Lucas de la Rua, 6 Ryan Woodman (captain), 5 Gethyn Cannon, 4 Jonny Green, 3 Kian Hire, 2 Isaac Young, 1 Josh Morse.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Ioan Emanuel, 18 Sam Scott, 19 Nick Thomas, 20 Owen Conquer, 21 Lucca Setaro, 22 Harri Wilde, 23 Steffan Emanuel.
South Africa: 15 Bruce Sherwood, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Joshua Boulle, 11 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 10 Tylor Sefoor, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Sibabalwe Mahashe, 7 Bathobele Hlekani, 6 Keanu Coetsee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Jaco Grobbelaar, 3 Zachary Porthen (captain), 2 Luca Bakkes, 1 Casper Badenhorst.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Liyema Ntshanga, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Wandile Mlaba, 20 Divan Fuller, 21 Liam Koen, 22 Phillip-Albert van Niekerk, 23 Litelihle Bester.
Referee: Reuben Keane
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White, Neheun Jauri Rivero
TMO: Mark Patton
Italy v Georgia, 13-24
Scorers:
For Italy:
Try: Siciliano
Con: Pucciariello
Pens: Pucciariello 2
For Georgia:
Tries: Keshelava, Gergedava, Tsulukidze, Nugzari, Kevkhishvili
Cons: Tsirekidze
Yellow card: Pisani
Teams:
Italy: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Luca Belloni, 13 Federico Zanandrea, 12 Nicola Bozzo, 11 Francesco Imberti, 10 Martino Pucciariello, 9 Giulio Sari, 8 Jacopo Botturi (captain), 7 Luca Bellucci, 6 Cesare Zucconi, 5 Piero Gritti, 4 Tommaso Redondi, 3 Nicola Bolognini, 2 Vittorio Padoan, 1 Federico Pisani
Replacements: 16 Valerio Siciliano, 17 Francesco Gentile, 18 Davide Ascari, 19 Mattia Midena, 20 Giacomo Milano, 21 Mattia Jimenez, 22 Francesco Bini, 23 Patrick De Villiers
Georgia: 15 Luka Tsirekidze, 14 Luka Keshelava, 13 Nugzar Kevkhishvili, 12 Giorgi Khaindrava, 11 Otar Metreveli, 10 Gela Kheladze, 9 Giorgi Spanderashvili, 8 Nika Lomidze, 7 Andro Dvali, 6 Giorgi Gergedava, 5 Temur Tsulukidze, 4 Davit Lagvilava, 3 Davit Mchedlidze, 2 Tamaz Tchamiashvili, 1 Luka Ungiadze.
Replacements: 16 Shota Kheladze, 17 Bachuki Baratashvili, 18 Davit Mchedlishvili, 19 Tornike Ghaniashvili, 20 Luka Suluashvili, 21 Mikheil Kachlavashvili, 22 Luka Kobauri, 23 Luka Takaishvili.
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant referees: Dylen November, Eon van Zyl
TMO: Quinton Immelman
Spain v Fiji, 24-19
Scorers:
For Spain:
Tries: Moleti, Zolezzi, Gallego, Gonzalez Blanco
Cons: Otanendi 2
For Fiji:
Tries: Sharma, Vakadrigi, Nemani, Kurucake
Cons: Basiyalo 2
Yellow cards: Burguillos, Armstrong-Ravula, Nemani Kurucake, Basiyalo
Red card: Salabiau
Teams:
Spain: 15 Luciano Richardis, 14 Julien Burgullios, 13 Alberto Carmona, 12 Yaco Fernandez, 11 Hugo Pichardie, 10 Gonzalo Otamendi, 9 Javier Lopez de Haro, 8 Valentino Rizzo, 7 Jokin Zolezzi, 6 Nicolas Moleti, 5 Manex Ariceta Maestro (captain), 4 Pablo Guiaro, 3 Hugo Gonzalez, 2 Diego Gonzalez, 1 Alberto Gomez.
Replacements: 16 David Gallego, 17 Pau Massoni, 18 Aniol Franch, 19 Martin Serrano, 20 Antonio Gamez, 21 Nico Infer, 22 Unax Zuriarrain, 23 Gabriel Rocaries.
Fiji: 15 Isikeli Basiyalo, 14 Aisea Nawai, 13 Benjamin Naivalu, 12 Ponipate Tuberi, 11 Waisake Salabiau, 10 Ratu Isikeli Rabitu, 9 Samuela Ledua, 8 Simon Koroiyadi, 7 Ronald Sharma, 6 Ratu Nemani Kurucake, 5 Malaki Masi, 4 Nalani May (captain), 3 Luke Nasau, 2 Moses Armstrong-Ravula, 1 Mataiasi Tuisireli.
Replacements: 16 Iowane Vakadrigi, 17 Anare Caginavanua, 18 Breyton Legge, 19 Iliesa Erenavula, 20 Josua Gonewai, 21 Pauliasi Korobiau, 22 Joseva Ubitau, 23 Avakuki Niusalelekitoga.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison, Eon van Zyl
TMO: Tual Trainini