Samoa U 20

Ninth place semi-final: Ireland 52-26 Samoa

In a power-packed first-half performance that brought four tries for the forwards, front-rowers Ronan Kelleher and Peter Cooper crashed over from pick-and-goes before second-row Fineen Wycherley used all his 196cm frame to reach out and plant the ball down under the posts.

Having seen big second-row Theodore Solipo charge over from 30 metres, Samoa appeared to be building momentum as the half came to a close, but Ireland took advantage of Howard Tagoai’s yellow card for not retreating 10 to score on the stroke of half-time through Oisin Dowling.

Samoa U 20s pose a threat to Ireland

Captain Paul Boyle said Samoa is a big challenge for Ireland.

“They're going to be a good physical team and we're really looking forward to playing them. It's at the stage where if you lose you're in a relegation play-off, so it's a really, really big game for us and for Samoa.”

"I'm sure they've done a lot of preparation, but we're focused on our own game and getting our own performance right. There's a few aspects of our game which we haven't got right in the last few matches, so if we get them right we're confident going into it," Boyle said.

World Rugby U20 Championship: Wales 54-20 Samoa

Samoa were ahead 6-0 before Wales responded through Jared Rosser's try.

Aled Ward, Sean Moore and two tries from Shane Lewis-Hughes gave Wales a commanding lead

Alexander Pohla-Murray and Setu Enoka crossed for Samoa but Dane Blacker, Will Griffiths and Joe Goodchild sealed a bonus-point win.

Wales had lost their opening two matches against Australia and England in Pool A.

Aussie U20s sneak by Samoa

When these teams met at the Oceania Championship it was one way traffic but it was anything but last night.

Simon Cron's team were outplayed in the first 40 minutes by a Samoan side that had an insatiable thirst for the contest.

The Australians, in contrast, were lackadaisical in their approach to the breakdown and were made to pay in the form of possession and territory.

The Samoans had plenty of it in the first-half and though they only scored the one try, the Australians were void of any attacking momentum.

England U 20 in 71-14 win over Samoa

England sent out an early warning of their intention to win a fourth title in five years with a clinical display against Samoa, scoring 12 tries for a 74-17 victory at Avchala Stadium in the Georgian capital.

It took England only three minutes to cross the line when they spread the ball wide for winger Ali Crossdale to dive over and a yellow card for Samoa's Losi Filipo minutes later didn't help their cause.

Samoa Under 20s face daunting start

The Baby Manu are back in the top flight after winning last year's second tier Under 20 trophy.

Head coach Mahonri Schwalger has been in charge only a few weeks following the resignation of Junior Leota.

He said it would be great for the development of Samoan Rugby to be playing against the best in the world.

"We're not taking any game easy so we're playing England first and then Australia so it's not really a easy pool to be in," he said.

Samoa U20s target survival on return to the top

They have twice had to win the second-tier U20 Trophy to return to the premier age-grade tournament after suffering the agony of relegation.

They dropped out of the elite tier in both 2010 and 2015, but bounced back at the first attempt on each occasion by winning the Trophy – even if it was only thanks to a nail-biting sudden-death, extra-time win over Spain in the 2016 final in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Oceania champs a big learning curve for Samoa Under 20s

 

The Baby Manu were thrashed 43-20 by Australia and 80-23 by New Zealand at the Oceania Under 20 Championship, before finishing with a 10 point win against Pacific rivals Fiji earlier this month.

Mahonri Schwalger was a technical advisor with the team on the Gold Coast but has assumed head coaching duties for the Junior World Cup in Georgia, following the resignation of Junior Leota.

He said the regional tournament was a big learning curve.

Baby Manu storm into Under 20 trophy final

The Baby Manu led 24-8 at half-time and ran in seven converted tries in all to finish atop Pool A with three straight wins.

Coach Ramsey Tomokino said it was pleasing to see his players step up in another physical match against the South Americans.