 when Ireland already led 31-7.
The second half was just 7-all.
Prop Michael Milne scored the first try after just six minutes, and Ireland led 31-0 before, on the stroke of half-time, scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco dummied cleverly and opened Italy’s account.
Just after half-time, Italy had a scrum five metres from the Irish line. They shoved Ireland back and were rewarded with a penalty try.
Lock Ryan Baird ended the scoring.
The bonus-point win keeps Ireland’s chances alive of earning a a semifinal spot, though it remains really only a theoretic possibility.
The first half was fairly drab – a score after five minutes to give Scotland a 7-0 lead at half-time but it was the shoddy handling that spoilt the game. But then as Georgia came back and took the lead with just six minutes to go, the energy lifted and the play became frantic.
Scotland were cleverer than the Georgians. They largely nullified the Georgian scrum strength with quick scrums and they turned Georgian lineouts to their own profit. Ironically the winning score came from a Scottish throw into a lineout.
Georgia, who had made sweeping changes to their team for this match, did not score in the first half and in fact all their points were scored by replacement players.
The Scottish score after five minutes came from a penalty-fuelled lineout, some bashing and a try by hooker Ewan Ashman which flyhalf Ross-Thompson converted.
Georgia had skilled, clever Tedo Abzhandadze at flyhalf in the second half and he made a huge difference. His penalty goal brought the score to 7-3 But then Scotland won another Georgian lineout and attacked. For the only time in the half Georgia were penalised, Scotland tapped and Ashman scored his second try. 12-3.
There was a Georgian scrum on the half-way line. They won the ball and went right. Substitute centre Mikheil Alania sent wing Otar Lashki charging down the right. He was tackled, the Georgians won quick ball and went wide left where Abzhandadze cut through and scrod. 12-10.
Scotland believed they had scored a lavish sweeping try when Jack Blain went over under the posts but for the second time in the match they were foiled by a TMO’s check-check. This time a forward pass was detected and the try cancelled.
Scotland biggest and most surprising and costly boob of the match came when they threw in to a lineout near their line. They overthrew, Replacement hooker Luka Noriadze caught the over thrown ball and had an open path to the line where he scored the winning points.
It was 22-14 and the second half was also 22-14, which meant that Wales won 44-28, leaving Fiji in the relegation zone.
It was magnificent and it was ugly, the best and worst of matches, the most thrilling and the most tawdry – a match of contrasts not all of them positive.
The result produced one of rugby big surprises, one which could have longer term repercussions.
France were sitting pretty at the top of the pool and looked certainties for the semifinals. After all they e were unbeaten while Argentina had lost to Wales whom France had beaten. But by the end of this match, Argentina had dethroned France who were left hoping that somebody else could do them a favour that would enable them to limp into the semis.
There was so much to make one happy – and then there were two red cards and a yellow card and nasty outbursts of scuffling. And controversy will live on. But one hopes that the rugby will live on in memories of a remarkable performance by the home side’s Pumitas in the city of Rosario where first the Argentinian flag flew.
Argentinina scored forst – a humble penalty goal and then came the first ecsatacy-agony momtn, when anxiety came down cold on joy on the one hand and gave hope to dsiappointment on the other.
There was the magnificent sight of a prop, yes a burly prop, Thomas Gallo, burst straight down the middle of the field. He ran with great impetus for some 60 metres before he was felled just short of the posts. But he stretched out and scored. That try did not get an immediate salute of fanfare because way down the field there was a TMO examination. The Argentinians feared that an infringement would be found to nullify the try while the French hoped that an infringement would be found to nullify the try.. Instead a high tackle was examined that resulted in a red card for flank Sacha Zegueur. And – whew – the try stood. 10-0 and a red card after 11 minutes.
Argentina attacked down the left with a run of strength and skill by Mate Carreras. He chipped ahead and eventually scrumhalf Gonzalo García dummied and scored. 17-0 after just 13 minutes.
Five minutes later there was another red card, also for a high tackle, this time shown to Argentinian right wing Rodrigo Isgró.
There followed a penalty and a try and a yellow card, all for Argentina. Joaquín de la Vega Mendia kicked the penalty Juan Martín Gonzalez scored the try and Lucas Bur got the yellow card for a cynical infringement near his line when he stopped a possible try from a tapped penalty.
The French scrumhalf Quintin Delord scored a try and an energetic scuffle broke out.
After a try from a penalty, lineout, maul sequence scrod by Pablo Dimcheff, the half-time score was 34-7 to Argentina.
That left France with a mountain to climb. They managed a fair way up, ending with an important try by Matthis Lebel. It was important because it gave France a bonus point and a possible fourth place in the semifinals – depoending on what would happen when South Africa and New Zealand meet.
Wow! Who would have seen this coming? England had been beaten by Ireland and just scraped home against Italy and here they are thumping Australia, the champions of the Oceania Under-20 Championship.
At half-time, England were already far ahead at 42-12.They scored eight tries on the day.
Red cards are on the way to becoming a feature at this World Under-20 Championship. Australia got theirs inside three minutes when No.8 Pat Tafa was sent off for a high tackle. Australia played virtually the whole match with 14 men, a handicap of their own making.
It is interesting that despite this huge victory, England are not in the semifinal, but despite this huge defeat Australia are in the semifinals.
It was intense, as ever it is that New Zealand and South African teams meet. It does not matter what level it’s at – at schools, in the Western Desert, in a World Cup Final – it is always intense. And this time it seems it was the South African Under-20 that used the tension better to make for greater speed, harder defence and the use of scoring chances.
In the first half especially, they were noticeably playing the game at a higher tempo than the New Zealanders and with more aggression, the haka notwithstanding. They achieved what they did, despite their continuing ill-discipline.. Three yellow cards in this match had the potential for disaster.
For the South Africans, the determined effort paid off; for the New Zealanders there was the bitter disappointment of losing out on a semifinal spot – not the sport of outcome they are used to.
Each side scored two tries, but the boot was enough to beat the Kiwis and knock them down to the also rans, as France beat them to the best of the next-bests and so the fourth place in the semifinals.
After 19 minutes, South Africa led 13-0. Their first points came from a try as they attacked down the right. Big Rikus Pretorius broke and got an underarm offload away to fullback Vaughen Isaacs, who scored. Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse converted and added a penalty goal for an 8-0 lead.
Then came the second great tight forward try of the day. New Zeakland threw into a lineout on the half-way line and knocked the ball back at an angle to their side. Huge lock JJ van der Mescht intercepted the tap-back and pounded the 50 metres for a try far out on the left. 13-0.
This happened while Dylan Richardson was in the sin bin, found guilty of a deliberate knock-on.
Richardson was back but hg is flank-mate, Sibusiso Sangweni, was off to the sin bin for a “grass cutter” tackle, an infringement which got the Junior All Blacks their penalty goal. Hendrikse kicked two more before half-time and before Sangweni was back from captivity.
The half-time score was 19-3 in South Africa’s favour.
The second half was just under way when the Kiwis were footing ahead into the South African in-goal and the South African flyhalf James Mollentze grabbed Kaylum Boshier from behind. The TMO was again consulted and the upshot was a penalty try and a yellow card for Mollentze. 19-10.
Sanele Nohamba replaced Hendrikse and took over the kicking. He kicked the two penalties in the half that gave South Africa 25 points.