Ireland U-20 Men To Kick Off Rebranded World Championship Against England

The Ireland Under-20 Men’s team (sponsored by PwC) will play England, Argentina, and the USA, one of the promoted teams, in the pool phase of the rebranded World Rugby Junior World Championship this summer.

As well as rugby’s pinnacle annual U-20 Men’s competition being renamed from 2026 as the World Rugby Junior World Championship, the tournament has been expanded to 16 teams for the first time since 2009.

This year’s Junior World Championship will take place in Georgia from Saturday, June 27 to Saturday, July 18, with five rounds of action across Tbilisi and Kutaisi. Click here for the full pool line-ups and match schedule.

The Ireland U-20 Men, who finished 11th at last year’s Championship, will battle it out in Pool C with regular rivals England, Argentina, the competition’s third seeds after winning bronze last summer, and the USA, one of four sides who have come up from U-20 Trophy level.

Coached by Andrew Browne this season, the Ireland U-20s’ preparations for the upcoming U-20 Men’s Six Nations include a warm-up match against Italy at the UCD Bowl on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm). Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.ie.

They also played the reigning Junior World champions South Africa in Cork in November, and excitement is building for the Ireland squad announcement for the U-20 Men’s Six Nations on Tuesday, ahead of their opening fixture against France in Perpignan on Saturday, February 7.

Virgin Media Park has been the home of the Ireland U-20 Men in recent seasons, and fans have consistently packed out the home of rugby in Cork for these matches. Make sure to get your tickets for their U-20 Six Nations encounters with Italy, Wales, and Scotland.

Their summer schedule features an exciting run of pool games, all at Tbilisi’s Avchala Stadium. England, whom they face in Bath on Friday, February 20, will be their first Junior World Championship opponents on Saturday, June 27 (kick-off 3.30pm local time/12.30pm Irish time).

Argentina are next up the following Thursday, at the same kick-off time, before the Ireland U-20s wrap up their Pool C campaign in the Georgian capital against their American counterparts on Tuesday, July 7 (kick-off 1pm local time/10am Irish time).

The four pool winners will progress to the semi-finals, while second-placed teams will compete for the fifth to eighth positions. Third and fourth-placed teams will contest rankings from ninth to 12th and 13th to 16th respectively, with the seedings based on pool points.

The knockout stages will be played across two days per round, culminating in the third-place play-off and the final at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi on Saturday, July 18.

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson commented: “We are thrilled to unveil the Junior World Championship, a bold new identity for one of our most important competitions.

“Expanding to 16 teams underlines our ambition to grow the game globally and provide more opportunities for emerging talent to experience world-class rugby.

“Georgia has proven to be an outstanding host in the past (when the 2017 tournament was held there), and we look forward to working closely with them again to deliver a truly world-class tournament that celebrates the future of our sport and unearth the next generation of international stars.”

Georgian Rugby Union President Davit Kacharava said: “We are proud and excited to welcome the World Rugby Junior World Championship back to Georgia in its bold new format.

“Hosting this prestigious competition across Tbilisi and Kutaisi, two vibrant cities, and three fantastic venues, is a privilege for our proud rugby nation.

“We are ready to showcase the very best young rugby talent and deliver thrilling matches that fans will remember for years to come.”

This summer’s Junior World Championship will also mark a significant step forward in player welfare, becoming the first international competition to feature a trial of lowering the tackle height.

This initiative, designed to enhance safety and reduce head contact, builds on successful trials at community and domestic levels.