The 11th place play-off at Calvisano’s Stadio San Michele gets underway at 3.30pm local time/2.30pm Irish time, and there will be live coverage on RugbyPass TV. Tickets can be purchased here, and cover all three fixtures at a venue on a match day.
– Spain and Ireland will face each other for the first time at this level. Ireland will become the eighth different team that Spain have faced in the World Rugby U-20 Championship, while Spain will become the 16th team that Ireland have played
– Spain have won just one of their previous nine U-20 Championship games (L8), but it was in the 11th place play-off in Cape Town last summer when they beat Fiji 24-19
– Spain have lost their previous six encounters with European sides in the U-20 Championship by an average margin of 25 points. They led at half-time in just one of those games, against Wales in this year’s pool stages (establishing an 18-14 lead at half-time before losing 35-25)
– Ireland will participate in just their second U-20 Championship 11th place play-off after defeating Japan 36-33 in 2018, which remains their most recent win in their final game of the global age-grade tournament
– Ireland have lost their last five matches played against European opposition in the knockout stages of the U-20 Championship, and have not led at half-time in any of their last seven such games
– Ireland have conceded fewer turnovers per game than any other team in the 2025 tournament (12.0). However, Spain have averaged the joint-most turnover-winning tackles of any side (4.0, also Scotland and Italy)
– Ireland (89%) and Spain (88%) have the second and third highest lineout success rates respectively of any team in this year’s U-20 Championship, while Doak’s youngsters are also the only side with a 100% rate on their own scrums (27/27)
– Only New Zealand (118) have made more carries per game than Spain (114) in the competition this summer, yet Spain have the lowest dominant carry (21%) and tackle evasion (18%) rates of any side
– Among the 43 players to have made 10+ kicks in play during this year’s U-20 Championship, Ireland’s Daniel Green has averaged the most metres per kick (45.6). Spain’s Nicolas Infer ranks third for total kicks (43)
– Spain hooker Marcos Perez has committed 2+ opposition tacklers on 93% of his carries during the tournament in Italy, the highest rate among the 208 players to have made at least 10 carries