“Massive sense of excitement” as teams prepare for day one of World Rugby U20 Championship 2025 in Italy

Excitement was the word on the lips of all 12 captains ahead of the World Rugby U20 Championship kicking off in Italy on Sunday, 29 June with England the defending champions.

The 15th edition of the prestigious age-grade tournament featuring the future stars of world rugby gets underway on Sunday, 29 June with three matches played in both Verona and Calvisano.

Defending champions England will open play at the Payanini Center in Verona at 15:30 local time (GMT+2) when they take on Scotland, who return to the U20 Championship for the first time since 2019 after winning the World Rugby U20 Trophy on home soil last year, in Pool A.

France, runners-up in 2024 after winning the three previous tournaments, then face Spain at 18:00 before the other Pool B fixture sees Argentina close proceedings against Wales at 20:30.

Meanwhile, over at Stadio San Michele in Calvisano, Australia and South Africa will get proceedings underway at 15:30, with the Junior Springboks eager to avenge their recent loss in the U20 Rugby Championship. This Pool A encounter is followed by the two Pool C matches as Ireland meet Georgia at 18:00 and New Zealand face hosts Italy at 20:30.

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The three pool winners and the best-runner-up across the three pools will qualify for the semi-finals on 14 July with the 2025 champions crowned at the Stadio Mario Battaglini in Rovigo on 19 July.

England co-captain Ben Redshaw was part of that 2024-title winning team, but he insists the tag of defending champions doesn't put pressure on their shoulders.

“I think we take massive confidence from what we did last year, there is plenty of us that were involved in that group that won the tournament last year. But you will hear Buzz [co-captain Rob Burrow] and I a lot that we are here to create our own story. We are not necessarily taking it as pressure in that mind but something we can take as confidence into this tournament, creating our own story and building our own platform.”

There is no harder challenge for Scotland on their return to the top level than facing the defending champions, Australia and South Africa, but it is one that co-captain Johnny Ventisei, who was part of the U20 Trophy-winning team, is relishing.

“I think being in a competition like this you want to be playing the best of the best and see how you fare against them. Last year it was great to win the Trophy against some good sides but this year is going to be a step up and we are really excited as a group and can’t wait to face all three teams.”

New Zealand have won the two previous editions held in Italy in 2011 and 2015 and captain Manumaua Letiu is keen to continue that tradition in 2025 and end an eight-year wait for a seventh title in the process after his nation's last success in Georgia in 2017.

“Definitely, the boys have talked about it,” he admitted. “This really is a great opportunity for us as a team to put ourselves back on the top and I think the boys are really excited to get amongst it and get into it.

“I feel like the past is the past and this is a new team and a new year for us. It is more just the excitement to get this opportunity. We have talked about going out there and earning the right to play that next game and get those opportunities to hopefully earn ourselves a spot in the final. We are just excited more than feeling that pressure [to win the title] I guess.”

His South Africa counterpart Riley Norton, who played in the U19 Cricket World Cup in 2024, is equally confident his side can claim the title for only the second time, 13 years after their first on home soil with a side featuring Handre Pollard, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Steven Kitshoff.

“Of course, 2012 is the only year that has done it and you look at how many of those guys ended up being Springboks. It’s a team that we definitely look up to. It is not really a chip on our shoulder, we are not giving ourselves any extra pressure with it but we are just looking at taking each game for what it has to offer and the belief is there in the group. It is definitely something we think we can do and we are really excited for what is to come over the next few weeks.”

Host captain Giacomo Milano admits “there’s pressure because we’re playing in Italy”, but insists they have been doing all they can to be ready to face New Zealand on opening day.

“We’ll need to be careful about New Zealand’s development and their style of play: we’ve prepared by studying them a lot, to be as ready as possible. They’re a team that likes to play and doesn’t give up the ball during set pieces. They have individual characteristics that are different from ours in terms of style: we’ll try to contain them in these areas, especially in open play.”

WHERE TO WATCH

All 30 matches at the World Rugby U20 Championship will be streamed live on RugbyPass TV where there is not a local broadcaster deal in place.

The following broadcasters will be showing the tournament: Australia (Stan), Canada (TSN), France (L’Equipe), Georgia (Rugby TV), Italy (Rai, Sky Italia and The Rugby Channel), Latin America (Disney+), MENA (Starzplay), the Netherlands (Ziggo), New Zealand (Sky), USA (Paramount+).

MATCH OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS

The Emirates World Rugby Match Official appointments for the opening two rounds of the tournament have been confirmed with all 10 referees to take charge of a match on either 29 June or 4 July.

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Marcus Playle (New Zealand) will referee England v Scotland in the opening game in Verona, before Filippo Russo (Italy) and Griffin Colby (South Africa) oversee France v Spain and Argentina v Wales respectively.

Katsuki Furuse, who refereed the U20 Trophy final in 2024, will take charge of Australia v South Africa in the Calvisano opener, with Jérémy Rozier (France) and Peter Martin (Ireland) in the middle for Ireland v Georgia and New Zealand v Italy to close out day one.

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