The match venues

The IRB Junior World Championship is the premier age grade competition where the future stars of world rugby cut their teeth.

The three selected venues for JWC 2013 in France are Stade Henri Desgrange in La Roche-sur-Yon, Stade Pascal Laporte in Nantes and Stade de la Rabine in Vannes.

La Roche-sur-Yon

Name: Stade Henri Desgrange
Address: Rue de Saint-André d’Ornay – 85000 La Roche-sur-Yon
Capacity: 9,000
Department: Vendée (85)
Regional Committee: Pays de la Loire

The Stade Henri Desgrange will host all of the matches in Pool A involving defending champions South Africa, USA, England and hosts France. In the knockout stages, the stadium will host the matches to determine the fifth to eighth placed teams.

The stadium was renovated in 2003 with a new stand (124m long and 16m high) and has a capacity of 4,400 seats. The cycling track renovation was completed in 2004.

The facilities are of a high standard with eight dressing rooms, physio rooms, two medical rooms, a doping control station and a reception area.



Nantes

Name: Stade Pascal Laporte
Address: 74 Boulevard des Anglais - 44100 Nantes
Capacity: 1,800
Department: Loire - Atlantique (44)
Regional Committee: Pays de la Loire

The Stade Pascal Laporte will host all of the matches in Pool C involving Wales, Argentina, Scotland and Samoa. Once the pool stages are complete, the stadium will then host the ninth to 12th place play-offs. 

Built in 1920 and formerly known as Stade Malville, this stadium is the home ground of the Stade Nantais Rugby club which plays in Fédérale 2. Its capacity is 1,300 but will be upgraded to 1,800 for the Junior World Championship. The main stand was erected in 2003.

The stadium is named after Pascal Laporte, who was a former French rugby player who won the French Championship in 1899, 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907 with Stade Bordelais and was involved in the creation of the SNUC (Nantes RC), a club he played for and captained until 1910. The SNUC won the Espérance Cup in 1917 while he was coach and chairman. In 1919, he became chairman of the Regional Committee, before becoming chairman of the Nantes club again between 1942 and 1947. He died in 1947.



Vannes

Name: Stade de la Rabine
Address: 56 Place Théodore Decker – 56000 Vannes
Capacity: 9500
Department: Morbihan (56)
Regional Committee: Bretagne

The Stade de la Rabine in Vannes will host all of the Pool B matches involving New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Ireland. The stadium also has the honour of hosting the semi-finals, the third place play-off and the final.

The stadium, which is situated on the right bank of the Vannes Marina, is the home of the local soccer club, Vannes Olympique Club, which is currently in the third national division but was in the second division until 2011.

In March 2012, France played England at the Stade de la Rabine during the RBS Under 20 Six Nations and the enthusiastic local rugby fans are sure to create a festival atmosphere at JWC 2013.