The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth IRB Junior World Championship, an annual international rugby union competition for Under-20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was held in South Africa between 4 and 22 June 2012 and organised by world rugby's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB). A total of 12 nations played in the tournament. New Zealand came into the tournament as defending champions. South Africa were crowned 2012 champions after defeating New Zealand 22–16 in the final on 22 June at Newlands Stadium.

After finishing last at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship, Tonga had been relegated to the IRB Junior World Trophy and therefore did not participate in this year's event. They had been replaced with Samoa, who won the 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy. Italy were relegated to the IRB Junior World Trophy for 2013 after losing the last place play-off to Fiji. They were replaced in 2013 with the United States, winner of the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy.

Venues The championship was held in Cape Town, South Africa. In an effort to improve TV broadcasting for all matches, only two venues were planned to be used. However, on 8 June 2012, organizers moved all the matches that were scheduled to be played at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch to the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point and Newlands Stadium in Newlands due to heavy rain that damaged the pitches of the initial venue.

SuburbVenueCapacity Stellenbosch Danie Craven Stadium 16,000 Bellville University of the Western Cape Stadium 2,500 Green Point Cape Town Stadium 55,000 Newlands Newlands Stadium 51,900

Squads

Teams

Pool Team Number of tournaments Position last year Position this year Notes A 4 1 2 Runners-up A 4 6 11 A 4 7 3 Bronze medal winner A 3 DNP 10 Promoted from 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy B 4 2 7 B 4 5 1 Champions B 4 8 5 B 3 11 12 Relegated to 2013 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy C 4 3 8 C 4 4 6 C 4 9 4 C 4 10 9

Pool stage All times are in South African Standard Time (UTC+2).

Pool A

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !width="200"|Team !width="20"|Pld !width="20"|W !width="20"|D !width="20"|L !width="20"|TF !width="20"|PF !width="20"|PA !width="25"|PD !width="20"|BP !width="20"|Pts |- |align=left| | 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 11 || 127 || 27 || +100 || 2 || 14 |- |align=left| | 3 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 15 || 102 || 21 || +81 || 3 || 11 |- |align=left| | 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 7 ||45 || 80 || -35 || 0 || 4 |- |align=left| | 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 6 || 152 || -146 || 0 || 0

Pool B

TeamPldWDLTFPFPAPDBPPts 3 2 0 1 13 99 41 +58 3 11 3 2 0 1 10 79 51 +28 2 10 3 2 0 1 11 99 48 +51 1 9 3 0 0 3 2 20 157 -137 0 0

Pool C TeamPldWDLTFPFPAPDBPPts 3 3 0 0 7 50 30 +20 0 12 3 2 0 1 8 76 54 +22 3 11 3 1 0 2 12 77 58 +19 1 5 3 0 0 3 7 53 114 -61 2 2

Standings after the group stage Overall Standings Pos Team Pld W D L TF PF PA PD BP Pts 1 3 3 0 0 17 127 27 +100 2 14 2 3 3 0 0 7 50 30 +20 0 12 3 3 2 0 1 13 99 41 +59 3 11 4 3 2 0 1 15 102 21 +81 3 11 5 3 2 0 1 8 76 54 +22 3 11 6 3 2 0 1 10 79 51 +28 2 10 7 3 2 0 1 11 99 48 +51 1 9 8 3 1 0 2 12 77 58 +19 1 5 9 3 1 0 2 7 45 80 −35 0 4 10 3 0 0 3 7 53 114 −61 2 2 11 3 0 0 3 3 20 157 −137 0 0 12 3 0 0 3 0 6 152 −146 0 0

Knockout stage

9–12th place play-offs

Semi-finals

11th place game

9th place game

5–8th place play-offs

Semi-finals

7th place game

5th place game

Finals

Semi-finals

Third place game

Final

References

External links

2012 IRB Junior World Championship at ESPN