2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournament, with matches hosted by Parma, Viadana, Calvisano and Cremona, host city of the final match. England went into the tournament as the two-time defending champions after they successfully defended their title in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship. This was the first U20 Championship held after the sport's governing body changed its name from the International Rugby Board to the current World Rugby.
New Zealand won the title after a 21–16 win against England in the final.
Venues
The championship was held across four locations. Parma, Viadana and Calvisano hosted pool matches, with the latter two hosting semi-finals for each bracket. Cremona hosted the final and two of the remaining positional play-offs, with Calvisano hosting the others.Location | Venue | Capacity |
Cremona | Stadio Giovanni Zini | 20,641 |
Viadana | Stadio Luigi Zaffanella | 6,000 |
Calvisano | Stadio San Michele | 5,000 |
Parma | Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi | 5,000 |
Teams
The following teams participated in the 2015 World Rugby U20 Championship:Pool | Team | No. of Tournaments | Position 2014 | Position 2015 | Notes |
A | 8 | 1st | 2nd | Runners-up | |
A | 8 | 6th | 4th | ||
A | 3 | DNP | 10th | Promoted from 2014 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy | |
A | 8 | 7th | 6th | ||
B | 8 | 5th | 5th | ||
B | 6 | 11th | 11th | ||
B | 8 | 2nd | 3rd | Bronze Medal Winner | |
B | 6 | 8th | 12th | Relegated to 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy | |
C | 8 | 9th | 9th | ||
C | 8 | 4th | 7th | ||
C | 8 | 3rd | 1st | Champions | |
C | 8 | 10th | 8th |
Match officials
The following officials oversaw the thirty matches:- TMO Shaun Veldsman travelled to Italy for the semi-finals and the final.
- Matthew Carley
- Gary Conway
- William Houston
- Shuhei Kubo
- Lloyd Linton
- Brendon Pickerill
- Elia Rizzo
- Juan Sylvestre
- Ben Whitehouse
- Carlo Damasco
- Gianluigi Rossi
- Stefano Pennè
- Filippo Bertelli
- Luca Trentin
- Stefano Roscini
- Francesco Russo
- Shaun Veldsman
Pool stage
All times are in Central European Summer Time
Points were awarded in the Pool Stage via the standard points system:
- 4 points for a win
- 2 points for a draw
- 1 bonus scoring point for scoring 4 or more tries
- 1 bonus losing point for losing by 7 or less points
- 0 points for a loss above 7 points
- The winner of the Match in which the two tied Teams have played each other;
- The Team which has the best difference between points scored for and points scored against in all its Pool Matches;
- The Team which has the best difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all its Pool Matches;
- The Team which has scored most points in all its Pool Matches;
- The Team which has scored most tries in all its Pool Matches; and
- If none of the above produce a result, then it will be resolved with a toss of a coin.