The 2013

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

went into the tournament as defending champions, after winning the tournament for the first time in 2012.

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

were crowned the 2013 champions for the first time after defeating

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

23–15 in the final on the 23 June at

Stade de la Rabine The Stade de la Rabine is a multi-purpose stadium in Vannes, France. It is currently used by Vannes OC and Rugby Club Vannes. The stadium is able to hold 11,303 spectators. The stadium was used as a venue for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championshi ...

in Vannes. After finishing last at the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

were relegated to the IRB Junior World Trophy and therefore didn't participate in this year's event. After finishing first at the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

were promoted to this competition for 2013. Their stay in the

was short-lived, however, as they lost in the 11th-place final to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

46–12 and were relegated to the IRB Junior World Trophy, being replaced for the 2014 competition by its winners

Venues

The championship was held in

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Na ...

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

and

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. In an effort to improve TV broadcasting for all matches, only three venues were used. For the first time since the competitions inception, the final was contested by two northern hemisphere teams. Also for the first time New Zealand did not participate in the final.

Teams

The following teams participated in the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship: ¹ were promoted from the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy.

Pool stage

The following playing schedule was released in November 2012: ''All times are in

Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...

(UTC+2).''

Pool A

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Pool B

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Pool C

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Pool stage rankings

Knockout stage

9–12th place play-offs

Semi-finals

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11th place game

9th place game

5–8th place play-offs

Semi-finals

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7th place game

5th place game

Finals

Semi-finals

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Third place game

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IRB

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2013 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2012–13 in French rugby union International rugby union competitions hosted by France Sport in Vannes

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...