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PREVIEW: U20 Championship, Round Two

Six Nations trio Wales, Scotland and 2016 runners-up Ireland all suffered defeats on the opening day and will be looking to bounce back.

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France and 2012 champions South Africa are in a slightly better position after drawing their Pool C encounter, but with only the three pool winners guaranteed a place in the semifinals no team will want to go into the final round of pool matches needing to chase points to remain in the title picture.

In Pool A defending champions England take on the familiar foe Wales after their remarkable win against Samoa in the opening match.

Another bonus-win for England would mean that their qualify for the semifinals.

However they face a desperate Wales side, who will be eager to register a win after a loss against Austalia.

Similar to England, bonus-points wins for Argentina and New Zealand would mean their top their respective pools and will be in a more favourable positon heading into the last round-robin phase of the tournament.  

Australia and Italy could also enhance their chances of reaching the play-offs.

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However, like Wales,  a bonus-point win against New Zealand could be too much of a task for the Azzurrini.

While Australia will have an easier day at the office when their meet Samoa for the second time in little more than a month.

For South Africa, the match against Georgia is must win to restore the faith of the nations in the team and to enhance their chances of qualification in a pool who turned out to be quite competitive.

In an all North-affair Ireland will be hoping that another one-point victory in the Six Nations doesn't get turned into a loss by the same margin as was the case in their opening encounter with Italy because, if they lose to Scotland in Kutaisi their hopes of reaching a third semifinal in four years will be over.

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Sunday, June 4

Round two, fixtures:

Argentina U20 v France U20

Ireland U20 v Scotland U20

New Zealand U20 v Italy U20

Australia U20 v Samoa U20

South Africa U20 v Georgia U20

England U20 v Wales U20

* Click here for a look at ROUND ONE RESULTS and LATEST STANDINGS!

Confirmed teams for Round two:

Pool A:

England: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Sam Aspland-Robinson, 13 Max Wright, 12 Theo Brophy Clews, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Max Malins (captain), 9 Harry Randall, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Justin Clegg, 4 Jack Nay, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Ralph Adams-Hale.

Replacements: 16 Joe Mullis, 17 Ollie Dawe, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Max Davies, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Will Butler.

Wales: 15 Will Talbot-Davies, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Ioan Nicholas, 12 Owen Lane, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Arwel Robson, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Aled Ward, 7 Will Jones, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Sean Moore, 4 Will Griffiths, 3 Kieron Assiratti, 2 Ellis Shipp, 1 Rhys Carre.

Replacements: 16 Owen Hughes, 17 Tom Mably, 18 Stef Thomas, 19 Callum Bradbury, 20 James Botham, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Ben Jones, 23 Joe Goodchild.

Samoa: 15 Alexander Pohla, 14 Tanielu Tele'a, 13 Hunter Paisami, 12 Tagaloa Fonoti, 11 Darren Moore, 10 Grayson Whitman, 9 Pupi Ah See, 8  Sione Tuipolotu , 7 Caleb Faalili, 6 Wyatt Setu, 5 Peato Toeafe, 4 Julius Togafau, 3 Suetena Asomua, 2 Noel Sanft, 1  Ivan Fepuleai.

Replacements: 16 Frank Tupuola, 17  Setu Enoka , 18  Afioga Ielemia , 19 Shammah-Anthony Solomona, 20  Francis Ah Him, 21  Howard Tagoai, 22 Godinet Tinei, 23  Ricky Pauli Ene.

Australia: 15 Liam McNamara, 14 Henry Hutchison, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Nick Jooste, 11 Simis Tupou, 10 Hamish Stewart, 9 Harry Nucifora, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Lachland Anderson, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Harrison Hockings, 4 Lachland Swinton, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2 Efi Maafu, 1 Cody Walker.

Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Sama Malolo, 18 Shambeckler Vui, 19 Angnus Blyth, 20 Reece Hewat, 21 Harrison Goddard, 22 Sione Tuipulotu, 23 Jayden Ngamanu.

Pool B:

New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Jona Nareki, 13  Braydon Ennor, 12 Orbyn Leger, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Tiaan Falcon, 9 Kemara Hauiti-Parapara, 8 Marino Mikaele-Tuu, 7 Adrian Choat, 6 Luke Jacobson (captain), 5 Sam Caird, 4 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 3 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2 John (JP) Sauni, 1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth. 

Replacements: 16 Alex Fidow, 17 Harrison Allan, 18 Ryan Coxon, 19 Jacob Pierce, 20 Tom Christie, 21 Ereatara Enari, 22 Tamati Tua, 23 Tima Faingaanuku.

Italy: 15 Simone Cornelli, 14 Andrea Bronzini, 13 Roberto Dal Zilio, 12 Alessandro Forcucci, 11 Andrea De Masi, 10 Filippo Di Marco, 9 Matteomaria Panunzi, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Lodovico Manni, 6 Michele Lamaro, 5 Niccolò Cannone, 4 Daniel Orso, 3 Marco Riccioni (captain), 2 Alberto Rollero, 1 Daniele Rimpelli.

Replacemets: 16 Matteo Luccardi, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Dante Gavrilita, 19 Edoardo Iachizzi, 20 Lorenzo Masselli, 21 Charly Vincenzo Ernst Trussardi, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Dario Schiabel.

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Robbie Nairn, 13 Ross McCann, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Connor Eastgate, 9 Andrew Simmers, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Bruce Flockhart, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill (captain), 4 Alex Craig, 3 Adam Nicol, 2 Fraser Renwick, 1 George Thornton.

Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Fergus Bradbury, 18 Ross Dunbar, 19 Hamish Bain, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Josh Henderson, 23 Patrick Anderson.

Ireland: 15 Alan Tynan, 14 Jack Kelly, 13 Gavin Mullin, 12 Ciaran Frawley, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Conor Dean, 9 Jack Stafford, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Paul Boyle (captain), 6 Sean Masterson, 5 Oisin Dowling, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Charlie Connolly, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Jordan Duggan.

Replacements: 16 Adam Moloney, 17 Greg McGrath, 18 Peter Cooper, 19 Jack Regan, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Michael Silvester.

Pool C:

South Africa: 15 Jeanluc Cilliers, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Gianni Lombard, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 6 Len Massyn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Kwenzo Blose.

Replacements: 16 Gerhard Steenekamp, 17 Daniel Jooste, 18 Wikus Groenewald, 19 Hendre Stassen, 20 Zain Davids, 21 Francois de Villiers, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Curwin Bosch.

Georgia: 15 Miriani Modebadze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Bezhani Gavashelishvili, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Davit Meskhi, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Gela Aprasidze, 8 Shota Areshidze, 7 Ilia Spanderashvili, 6 Tornike Jalagonia, 5 Lashia Jaiani, 4 Koba Jimsheleishvili, 3 Lasha Tabidze, 2 Guram Papidze, 1 Ushangi Tcheishvili.

Replacements: 16 Tengiz Zamtaradze, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Revaz Dugladze, 19 Beka Saghinadze, 20 Aleksandre Kalmakhelidze, 21 Luka Dvalishvili, 22 Giorgi Tsiklauri, 23 Giorgi Gogoladze.​

Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Tomás Malanos (captain), 13 Félix Luna, 12 Teo Castiglioni, 11 Luciano Gonzáles, 10 Juan B Daireaux, 9 Matías Sauze, 8 Santiago Ruiz, 7 Agustín Medrano, 6 Bautista Stávile, 5 Marcos Kremer, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Alejandro Luna, 2 José Luis Gonzáles, 1 Santiago Pullela.

Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Rodrigo Martínez, 18 Mayco Vivas, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Nicolàs Walker, 21 Gonzalo García, 22 Tomás Albornoz, 23 Juan Castro.

France: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Lucas Tauzin, 13 Theo Millet, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Arthur Coville, 8 Charlie Francoz, 7 Baptiste Pesenti, 6 Alexandre Roumat, 5 Mickaël Capelli, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Zakaria El Fakir, 2 Florian Dufour, 1 Hassane Kolingar.

Replacements: 16 Ugo Boniface, 17 Peato Mauvaka, 18 Henri Colombe, 19 Ibrahim Diallo, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Selevasio Tolofua, 22 Baptiste Couilloud, 23 Pablo Uberti.

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