Georgia U20 stun Argentina U20
In the fifth place semifinals, Australia bounced back from their devastating defeat, against England, with a 42-19 win over Italy.
Facing Australia on Sunday, are Scotland. The Scottish side scrapped to 29-25 win over Six Nations rivals Wales.
Fifth-place semifinal:
Australia 42-19 Italy
Izaia Perese seemed to be the difference between the two teams in the first 50 minutes when the game was won. The centre scored a hat-trick.
The Australians started with a bang but it was due to individual brilliance more than well-worked team play, as Perese had a double inside the first 10 minutes after a pair of breathtaking tries.
The first came from absolutely nothing, a loose pass 30 metres out from the Australian line creating an opportunity for Perese to scoop the ball up, turn on the jet shoes and split the Italians up the middle, as he ran 70 metres to score.
That was followed five minutes later by another sharp turn of foot, this time Perese running a perfect support line for Wright, who slipped a terrific offload to the outside centre.
It was 14-0 at the 10th minute mark but that's where the first half was turned on its head.
The Australians had plenty of ball but couldn't find the go forward they had on tap against England, turning to cute kicks and passes that didn't work.
That created opportunities for the Italians, who scored two tries in the final five minutes of the first half to only trail 12-14 at the break.
The first of the Azzurri tries was a well-worked overlap in the left hand corner but it was the next five-pointer which was cause for concern.
The Italians had clearly done their homework and were rushing the Australian running lines behind the front line but the Aussies seemingly did not catch on – Harry Hockings throwing a lazy intercept which Antonio Rizzi picked off and dished to Giovanni D'Onofrio, who scored under the sticks.
he Italians threatened again early in the second term after Perese blew an opportunity to set up Australia's third but Hewat saved the day with a massive counter ruck effort.
That triggered the attack which opened the floodgates for the Australians.
Perese nabbed his third in the minutes after, Wright again dishing the try assist after Hamish Stewart found the flanker over the top of more Italian defenders rushing out of the line.
Goddard then extended the lead with 55 minutes on the clock, burrowing over to get a reward for the understated role he played all afternoon.
That was followed by a try to Sione Tuipulotu, the inside centre rewarded for supporting his own cross field kick to Semisi Tupou after the winger collected the loose ball.
Dal Zilio then crossed for his second before Hewat was rewarded for all his hard work, picking the ball up after his pack drove over the top of an Italian feed and diving over in what would be the final scoring act of the match.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Perese 3, Goddard, Tuipulotu, Hewat
Cons: Goddard 5, Nucifora
For Italy:
Tries: Dal Zilio 2, D’Onofrio
Cons: Rizzi 2
Australia: 15 Liam McNamara, 14 Henry Hutchison, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Simon Kennewell, 10 Hamish Stewart, 9 Harrison Goddard, 8 Reece Hewat (captain), 7 Liam Wright, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Harry Hockings, 4 Ryan McCauley, 3 Shambeckler Vui, 2 Jordan Uelese, 1 Cody Walker.
Replacements: 16 Efi Maafu, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Gavin Luka, 19 Lachlan Swinton, 20 Rob Valetini, 21 Harry Nucifora, 22 Nick Jooste, 23 Semisi Tupou.
Italy: 15 Roberto Dal Zilio, 14 Pietro Fontana, 13 Andrea De Masi, 12 Alessandro Forcucci, 11 Andrea Bronzini, 10 Filippo Di Marco, 9 Matteo Panunzi, 8 Lodovico Manni, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Jacopo Bianchi, 5 Edoardo Iachizzi, 4 Daniel Orso, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Daniele Rimpelli.
Replacements: 16 Matteo Luccardi, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Dante Gavrilita, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Lorenzo Masselli, 21 Antonio Rizzi, 22 Giovanni D'Onofrio, 23 Marco Zanon.
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand), Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Scotland 29-26 Wales
Wales dominated the early stages of match and were rewarded in the 14th minute with a try courtesy of Owen Lane.
Centre Ioan Nicholas intercepted a promising Scottish move and then combined to put midfield partner Owen Lane clear.
Scotland hit back with left wing Darcy Graham cruising over out wide after Wales' defence was caught napping, flyhalf Connor Eastgate's conversion edged Scotland 7-5 ahead.
Scotland extended the lead after some sloppy work from a defensive lineout ultimately led to centre Ross McCann crashing over to make Wales pay for their benevolence, Eastgate adding the extras to increase Scotland's lead.
Wales hit back almost immediately with flyhalf Arwel Robson slashing through the Scottish defence to send Nicholas over under the posts. Robson's conversion brought Wales to within two points of Scotland.
A defensive line-out proved Wales downfall again, as they were unable to halt the Scottish pack driving over captain Callum Hunter-Hill in what was turning out to be a try-fest.
Robson pegged back three points in the 51st minute as the game became niggly. The staccato nature continued when Eastgate cancelled out Robson's penalty and then the Wales flyhalf responded with his second success of the second half from close range.
Wales regained the lead when Robson wriggled his way over near the corner flag with 10 minutes remaining. Robson's conversion gave Wales a three-point cushion.
With five minutes remaining Graham picked up a loose ball and smouldered through the defensive line to score under the posts. Scotland hold onto the lead despite relentless pressure by Wales.
The Scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: Graham 2, McCann, Hunter-Hil
Cons: Eastgate 3
Pen: Eastgate
For Wales:
Tries: W Jones, Nicholas, Robson
Cons: Robson 2
Pens: Robson 2
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14Robbie Nairn, 13 Ross McCann, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Connor Eastgate, 9 Andrew Simmers, 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 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 Daniel Winning, 19 Hamish Bain, 20 Archie Erskine, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Josh Henderson, 23 Lewis Berg .
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 Steff Thomas, 19 Callum Bradbury, 20 Syd Blackmore, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Connor Edwards, 23 Phil Jones.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referee: Pali De Luca (Argentina), Tasuku Kawahara (Japan)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Ninth place Semifinal:
Ireland 52-26 Samoa
Ireland's organisation and drive up front was the difference between the sides in an opening quarter which saw them produced three tries. With the wind behind them, they attacked hard off a scrum on halfway mark and after a series of pick-and-goes, Kelleher powered over for a fourth minute try converted by Dean.
With No.8 Doris looking back to his best, Ireland turned down two kickable penalties and continued to attack hard around the fringes. After going to the corner and securing the lineout, the pack pressed close in and tighthead Cooper marked his first start of the tournament with a seven-pointer.
Samoa then enjoyed a better spell of play, tidying up their defence and discipline, however fullback Ricky Ene missed a penalty in the windy conditions and they were soon behind their own posts again.
Gavin Coombes and Dowling were to the fore of another ground-gaining set of carries from the Irish pack, with the latter's second row partner Wycherley reaching in under the posts at the 20-minute mark.
The Samoans built some decent phases in response, getting their offload game going, and lock Theodore Solipo seized his change from 30 metres out having not been held in the tackle. He touched down despite the best efforts of the covering Alan Tynan and Michael Silvester, but Ene hit the post with the conversion.
Ireland ended the first half with a try. The Baby Manu lost scrumhalf Howard Tagoai to a yellow card for not being back 10 metres from a quick tap penalty, and the Irish front row earned the plaudits again as they won a five-metre scrum against the head and Dowling picked up to score. Dean's third successful conversion put 21 points between the sides at the break.
Ireland continued to build on their first half lead, and scored a try in the opening minute of the second stanza, courtesy of great work by the wing Calvin Nash. Dean failed to add the extras, 31-5.
With the game dead and buried Ireland added additional three tries, while Samoa managed to produce two tries of their own.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Kelleher 2, Cooper, Wycherley, Dowling, Nash, Doris, Frawley
Cons: Dean 6
For Samoa:
Tries: Solipo, Enoka, Ah See, Ielemia
Cons: Ene 3
Yellow cards: Tagoal (Samoa, 37), Dowling (Ireland, 54), Tela'a (Samoa, 63)
Ireland: 15 Alan Tynan, 14 Michael Silvester, 13 Gavin Mullin, 12 Ciaran Frawley, 11 Calvin Nash, 10 Conor Dean, 9 Jack Stafford, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Paul Boyle, 6 Gavin Coombes, 5 Oisin Dowling, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Peter Cooper, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Jordan Duggan
Replacements: 16 Adam Moloney, 17 Joey Conway, 18 Charlie Connolly, 19 Jack Regan, 20 John Foley, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 David McCarthy, 23 Mark Keane
Samoa: 15 Ricky Ene, 14 Darren Moore, 13 Taniele Tele’a, 12 Kerrod Foaese, 11 Alexander Pohla, 10 Tagaloa Fonoti, 9 Howard Tagoai, 8 Sione Tuipolotu, 7 Caleb Faalili, 6 Francis Ah Him, 5 Julias Togafau, 4 Theodore Solipo, 3 Afioga Ielemia, 2 Noel Sanft, 1 Seta Enoka
Replacements: 16 Petelo Ikenasio, 17 Suetene Asomua, 18 Frank Tupuola, 19 Shammah-Anthony Leonard Solomona, 20 Peato Toeafe, 21 Wyatt-Misitaga Uauta-Setu, 22 Pupi Ah See, 23 Godinot Tinei
Referee: Tom Foley (England)
Assistant Referees: Pali De Luca (Argentina), Tasuku Kawahara (Japan)
TMO: Charles Samson (South Africa)
Argentina 25-26 Georgia
Argentina were stunned by the urgency of Georgia, and within three minutes of play found themselves trailing 0-5 after lock Beka Saghinadze scored the first try to put the hosts in front.
Flyhalf Gela Abzhandadze added the extras, 7-0 after 4 minutes of play.
Possession exchanged hands and Argentina soon managed to get some points on the board courtesy of a successful penalty by Tomás Albornoz. However, the light at the tunnel soon dimmed as Georgia added one try and three penalties to end the first half with a 23-11 lead.
As the second half commenced Argentina found their rhythm. The Los Pumas scored two tries to but a single penalty by Aprasidze in the second half proved enough to secure the win for the hosts.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Tries: Delguy, Ferrario, Malanos
Cons: Daireaux 2
Pens: Albornoz 2
For Georgia:
Tries: Saghinadze, Spanderashvili
Cons: Aprasidze 2
Pens: Aprasidze 4
Yellow Cards: Tabidze (Georgia, 59), Luna (Argentina, 59)
Argentina: 15 Bautista Delguy, 14 Tomás Malanos (c), 13 Facundo Ferrario, 12 Teo Castiglioni, 11 Luciano Gonzalez-Rizzoni, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Matías Sauze, 8 Juan Molina, 7 Santiago Ruiz, 6 Agustin Medrano, 5 Nahul Milan, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Mayco Geronimo Vivas, 2 José Luis Gonzales, 1 Santiago Pullella
Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Rodrigo Martínez, 18 Alejandro Luna, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Nicolás Walker, 21 Gonzalo García, 22 Juan Bautista Daireaux, 23 Santiago Carreras
Georgia: 15 Miriani Modebadze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Bezhani Gavashelishvili, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Davit Meskhi, 10 Gela Abzhandadze, 9 Gela Aprasidze, 8 Arseni Machaladze, 7 Ilia Spanderashvili, 6 Tornike Jalagonia (c), 5 Koba Jimsheleishvili, 4 Beka Saghinadze, 3 Lasha Tabidze, 2 Levan Papidze, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Levan Tchavtchavadze, 17 Ushangi Tcheishvili, 18 Levan Papidze, 19 Lashia Jaiani, 20 Aleksandre Kalmakhelidze, 21 Luka Dvalishvili, 22 Giorgi Tsiklauri, 23 Beka Mamukashvili
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
