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20:53

Relive a thrilling opening day at the IRB Junior World Championship, including your contributions on Twitter as the drama unfolded.

  • Ireland defeat South Africa 23-19 with a magnificent forward display
  • Argentina pull off the second big shock on day one, beating France 18-15 at UWC
  • New Zealand lay down their marker with a 63-0 defeat of Samoa and England ease away in the second half to beat Italy 64-5
  • Australia outclass Scotland 67-12 and Wales recover from 12-3 down at half time to beat Fiji 44-18

This was the first time we used our new live blogging tool for a JWC match day. We hope you liked it, but we would love to hear your thoughts on what we could do better. Tell us @irbjuniors, or email getinvolved@irb.com

19:34

NZL 28 - 12 FIJI

19:32

RSA 28 - 15 England

19:26

#JWC What a finale in Cape Town.  RSA have beaten England in a quite breathtaking second half performance to secure a four-try bonus point win.  RSA 28 - 16 Eng

19:24

#JWC What a finale in Cape Town.  South Africa have beaten England in a quite breathtaking second half performance to secure a four-try bonus point win.  RSA 28 - 16 Eng

19:23


#NZLvFJI #NZL score a try in last seconds of the game 33-12 #JWC

16:52

#JWC Wales remain dominant against Samoa with just over 20 minutes remaining, leading 46-3.

JWC: South Africa v Ireland highlights
Video Play Video

 

20:19

South Africa coach Dawie Theron on losing to Ireland - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/27/2062327_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

Pool B: South Africa v Ireland
Try scorer Conor Gilsenan climbed high in the line out against South Africa. Photo: Image SA.
19:37

Ireland coach Mike Ruddock is pleased with the win, but refuses to get carried away - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/24/54/2062454_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

19:32

A tired Argentina flanker Pablo Matera: In the first half we gave away too many penalties, we were very indisciplined but then we started playing our game, we played our way and we did it. It's a team effort, we made it because in every minute we knew this game was ours, that we could win it and that is the result.

19:31

South Africa captain Wian Liebenberg: Definitely not the result we wanted. I think we didn't want to play catch up rugby but they played well, put the pressure on us and made us play in our half and that was not what we wanted to do. We can come back definitely, we will keep our heads up and come back fighting against Italy.

19:30

Ireland captain Niall Scannell: We worked very hard and believed in it. The South Africans put a lot of pressure on us but we came out all right. It was a very physical game. Our focus was on the tackle and to aim at those knees and ankles. Brilliant commitment by the team.

19:22

Ireland defeat hosts South Africa 23-19 in the biggest shock of the tournament so far

19:15

Nerves aplenty as both these final two matches go down to the wire. Can South Africa make their pressure pay against Ireland? Can France, down to 14 men, come back against Argentina? Only five mins remaining in both matches.

19:01

Two close games to finsh off day one - both of them could go either way!

18:45

South Africa increasing the pressure at the start of the second half on Ireland and the crowd getting into the match.

From earlier on day one...

Pool C: Australia v Scotland
Sun casts a shadow over the University of Western Cape as Australia prove too strong for Scotland. Photo: Image SA.

 

18:33

New Zealand coach Rob Penney: I’m pretty happy with it (the performance). We probably didn’t look after the ball as well as we would have liked, we turned over a little bit of possession when we had opportunities and some of our execution wasn’t as clinical as we would like, but you've got to give credit to the Samoa boys also who came out and hit us pretty hard on occasion and put us under a bit of pressure, so all in all reasonably satisfied.

18:26

Potential upset on the cards, Ireland lead hosts South Africa 13-3 at the break with an inspired first half performance

18:20

Two exciting and closely fought matches now live, rounding off a memorable match day one at the JWC 2012

18:18

For our Italian fans, captain Giovanni Maistri - who celebrates his 20th birthday today - talks about the loss to England - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/24/49/2062449_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

18:15

Jordan Coghlan scores for Ireland to give them a 13-3 lead over the hosts South Africa.

 

Pool A: New Zealand v Samoa
New Zealand co-captain Bryn Hall leads the Haka before the openinng game against Samoa. Photo: Image SA
18:07

Ireland level the scores 3-3

 

18:06

France lead Argentina 15-5 in the final JWC match of day one at UWC.

17:59

South Africa lead Ireland 3-0 after 13 minutes. 

 

17:55

New Zealand co-captain Bryn Hall on their 63-0 win over Samoa in Pool A - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/24/50/2062450_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

17:54

England captain Chris Walker on the 64-5 win over Italy in Pool B - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/34/2062334_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

17:46

South Africa have beaten Ireland twice before, both times at JWC 2011, winning 42-26 in the pool stages and 57-15 in the play-offs.

17:43

Step up in atmosphere at the JWC as a big crowd sings the South African national anthem.

17:28

Hosts South Africa will be taking to the field for the first time in this tournament in a few moments time. Get in touch to tell us your views as they take on Ireland in Stellenbosch.

17:27

England defeat Italy 64-5 in Cape Town.

17:23

New Zealand 63-0 Samoa in Stellenosch. Reigning champions in ominous form.

17:15

Darkness closing in at the end of a glorious day in Cape Town and Stellenbosch. England and New Zealand well ahead as their matches draw to a close. But there are still two matches left - South Africa v Ireland and France v Argentina - to round off the action on day one.

16:53

New Zealand wing Milford Keresoma is the scorer of the first hat-trick of JWC 2012, in the 63-0 win over Samoa.

16:45

Second half underway in New Zealand v Samoa and England v Italy matches.

16:39

Samoa replacement Vavao Afemai is the lightest player not only at JWC 2012 but in the history of the tournament. He weighs just 65kg!

16:32

Fiji coach Sale Sorovaki gives an honest assessment of their loss to Wales - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/33/2062333_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

16:31

Wales coach Danny Wilson on the 44-18 win over Fiji in Pool A - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/30/2062330_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

16:31

Scotland coach Peter Wright on the loss to Australia - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/32/2062332_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

16:30

Australia captain Liam Gill on beating Scotland 67-12 in Pool C - http://www.irb.com/mm/Audio/Tournament/Mediazone/02/06/23/25/2062325_HI-AUD_Neutral.mp3

16:29

England lead Italy 24-5 at the break in Cape Town.

16:28

New Zealand lead Samoa 36-0 at half time in the Pool A clash at UWC Stadium in Stellenbosch

Pool A: Wales v Fiji
Luke Hamilton of Wales reaching the try line. Photo: Image SA.

 

16:19

Blitzbok Coach Paul Treu in the crowd at the Danie Craven Stadium watching South Africa under pressure from Ireland

Pool A: Wales v Fiji
Fly half Sam Davies of Wales about to be tackled by Fiji defence. Photo: Image SA.

 

15:53

That try by Ambrose Curtis was New Zealand's 100th in the JWC pool stages. It also took the Baby Blacks through the 1,000 point barrier in JWC history, the first side to reach that milestone.

15:51

Wales captain Cory Hill: We're glad to get a win under the belt. We were taken by surprise the way they came out at us in the first half and then we trailed 12-3 at the break. We came back in the second half and stuck to our game plan and our structures. It was just a matter of getting on to the bandwagon again and playing like we trained. It was great to finish on a positive note.

15:50

Fiji captain Matayavusa Lea: I was very disappointed with our second half performance. We were not able to dominate at the set-pieces after half time and lost the battle in the scrums and lineouts. We'll have to work on our defence lines for the next match. We will be hoping to bounce back against Samoa.

15:48

Italy's Leonardo Sarto scores the opening try in their match with England to lead 5-3.

 

15:37

Italy's players are wearing black armbands in memory of those killed in the recent earthquakes back home.

15:35

This is the first meeting between England and Italy in JWC history, but the sides met in the Under 20 Six Nations with England running out 42-7 winners.

15:28

Wales also record a victory in their opening JWC 2012 match, beating Fiji 44-18 in Pool A. 

 

15:28

Australia beat Scotland 67-12 in Pool C.

 

15:14

New Zealand beat Samoa 77-7 in their only previous JWC meeting back in 2010, when Julian Savea scored a record equalling four tries. Savea was yesterday named in the All Blacks squad for their June series with Ireland.

15:08

In case you're wondering why the referee touched his head three times in the Wales v Fiji match, it was to signify a pitch-side concussion assessment for the Welsh player. The pitch-side concussion assessment is being trialled by the IRB at the Junior World Championship and Junior World Rugby Trophy this month. The player comes off and undergoes an assessment by his team doctor, observed by the independent match day doctor, and must pass a test to return to the field within five minutes. If not the player who replaced him, becomes a permanent replacement.

14:58

Wales centre Jack Dixon has set a new record, becoming the youngest ever to play in a JWC match. Dixon doesn't turn 18 until December so easily beat Liam Gill's record from 2010. Dixon is the youngest player at JWC 2012.

14:07

Wales centre Jack Dixon has set a new record as the youngest ever to play on the JWC stage. Dixon doesn't turn 18 until December so easily breaks Liam Gill's record from 2010.

14:01

Australia have picked up the first bonus point of JWC 2012 with James Dargaville's try.

13:38

Fiji centre Samu Kerevi just scored the 900th try in JWC history.

13:29

Wales and Fiji have met three times in JWC history, Fiji won 34-20 in the 2011 play-offs, while Wales won both encounters in 2010.

13:13

Australia and Scotland have met only once before today, at JWC 2010 when the Australians were convincing 58-13 winners on the opening day.

12:58

Three tries today will bring up 900 in JWC history

To get you in the mood...

 
JWC 2011: Final highlights
Video Play Video

 

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