Scotland Will Host 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy – Teams & Fixtures Guide

World Rugby confirmed that Scotland will host the 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy tournament from 2-17 July 2024. The U20 Trophy will be contested by eight teams which includes the participation of Hong Kong China Rugby, who were the regional winners in 2023, and Japan who were relegated from the U20 Championship.

Updated with results post-tournament.

Feature Photo  – The World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 captains’ photocall at West Sands Beach in St. Andrews, Scotland on 29 June. Pictured: Oliver Clarke (Hong Kong China), Yoshiaki Taian (Japan), Edmond Omondi (Kenya), Kit Temperley (Netherlands), Tagiilima Ripine (Samoa), Liam McConnell (Scotland), Franco Bertini (Uruguay), Dominic Besag (USA). (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Updated July 2024 – Fixtures and Teams Details 

On the eve of the tournament in Scotland, the eight captains of the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 partook in a photoshoot on the West Sands Beach in St Andrews, Scotland a location famous for the opening scenes of the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire.

The tournament will also be trialling the new rules approved by the World Rugby Executive Board, which will feature the three new law amendments implemented including a simplified red card sanction process.

World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont said of the U20 Trophy and U20 Championship (to be held in South Africa), “South Africa and Scotland will be fantastic hosts and provide ideal conditions for the 20 best U20 teams in the world to perform and I would like to thank our two member unions for taking up the hosting challenge.

I am convinced many of the talented young players featuring in these competitions will leave their mark, not only on these two tournaments but also on international rugby later down the line.”

Spain won the U20 Trophy tournament in Kenya in 2023, and the tournament in Scotland will be played over four match days at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.

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New Laws & Law Trials – World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024

World Rugby announced that the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 will feature the three new law amendments implemented to promote ball in flow and diversity of attacking options while supporting player welfare.

• The tournament will operate the full Head Injury Assessment (HIA) process
• A change of onside from kicks in open play. Players will now be deemed offside when an opposition player catches the ball and runs five metres, or passes the ball. Offside players must now make an attempt to retreat to be put back onside.
• Teams can no longer take a scrum from a free-kick. Free kicks must either be tapped or kicked to encourage more ball in flow.
• Players can no longer roll and twist another player in the tackle area (also called as the “crocodile roll”) and the action will now be sanctioned by a penalty.

A package of six law trialswill also operate – approved by the World Rugby Executive Board and more can be read about these closed law trials here.

World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Teams

Hong Kong China Rugby U20 won the Asian regional qualifiers

Scottish Rugby’s Performance Director Jim Mallinder said: “Scotland is looking forward to hosting the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 in July and welcoming teams from around the world to Edinburgh for what will no doubt be a keenly contested tournament.

International rugby has been played at Hive Stadium, home of Edinburgh Rugby, since it was finished in 2021 and we believe it will be a great venue for players and fans during the competition.”

The World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 will see eight teams fight for promotion to the Championship in 2025.

Of the 8 teams confirmed, three qualified via regional competitions in Africa, North America and Oceania which were won by Kenya, USA, and Samoa.

• Japan (relegated from the U20 Championship in 2023)
• Scotland (hosts)
• Hong Kong China (Asia)
• Netherlands (Europe)
• Uruguay (South America)
• Kenya – winner of the U20 Barthés Trophy
• USA – winner of a play-off between Canada and USA.
• Samoa – (Samoa and Tonga met in the Oceania play-off on 8 March in Auckland, New Zealand to determine who qualified)

Scotland – World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Pools

(Photo by World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images) World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 – Japan

The two Asian teams, Japan and Hong Kong China, find themselves in Pool A with the hosts and Samoa, while the Netherlands are debutants in the tournament in Pool B and will face Uruguay, Kenya and the USA.

• Pool A – Scotland, Japan, Hong Kong China and the Oceania qualifier, Samoa.
• Pool B – Netherlands, Uruguay, Kenya, and USA (the latter two were the qualified teams from Africa and North America)

Scotland finished third in the U20 Trophy in Kenya in 2023 after being relegated from the U20 Championship in 2019, and captain Liam McConnell said: “The whole squad is really excited for this tournament on home soil and has been training hard to hopefully do something special.”

Netherlands captain Kit Temperley added: “It is our first time here so we are really, really excited for it. It is a big thing for the country as a whole and we really can’t wait to prove ourselves here. We feel like we should be here and we can’t wait to get started. We are taking every moment as it comes, we know it is going to be a high level but we do back ourselves and we can’t wait to show how good we are.

People probably say something about rugby isn’t that big there [the Netherlands] and those type of things, but it is definitely growing and we have got the women in WXV and qualification for the World Cup, the men will be doing World Cup qualification and we are here and we don’t think it should be taken lightly that we are here. We are here to make a statement and we can’t wait to show ourselves. This will help so much with the younger generations and everyone coming through.”

The age-grade tournament is a key part of the international federation’s investment in increasing the competitiveness of global rugby by providing a meaningful pathway to the elite level for talented young players said World Rugby.

World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Schedule & Venue

All four match days of the U2o Trophy tournament will be played at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh which has a capacity of 7,800 and is the home of Edinburgh Rugby and located next to Murrayfield Stadium.

Pool Matches – World Rugby U20 Trophy 

Matchday 1: Tuesday, 2 July 2024

• Japan U20 105-20 HKCR U20 – See our preview here.
• Uruguay U20 25-7 Kenya U20
• Scotland U20 123-15 Samoa U20
• Netherlands U20 33-44 USA U20

Ethan Glass (Switzerland) referees Uruguay v Kenya, Katsuki Furuse (Japan) referees Scotland v Samoa., and Morgan White (Hong Kong China) takes charge of the last match between the Netherlands and USA.

Matchday 2: Sunday 7, July 2024

• Uruguay U20 15-32 USA U20
• Scotland U20 101-0 Hong Kong China U20 – See our preview here
• Japan U20 81-7 Samoa U20
• Netherlands U20 51-3 Kenya U20

Match official Sylvain Mané referees Uruguay and USA in the opening game before Nicolae Fratila (Romania) takes charge of Scotland v Hong Kong China, Caua Ricardo (Brazil) is in charge of the Japan vs Samoa match and Lex Weiner (USA) referees the Netherlands v Kenya.

Matchday 3: Friday 12, July 2024

• Samoa U20 39-19 HKCR U20 – See our preview here
• Kenya U20 17-30 USA U20
• Uruguay U20 32-16 Netherlands U20
• Scotland U20 46-10 Japan U20

Final & Ranking Matches – 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy 

Matchday 4: Wednesday 17^th July 2024 (local times)

• 7^th Place Play-off: Pool A 4^th v Pool B 4^th (kick-off 11.45am) HKCR 34-14 Kenya – See our preview here
• 5^th Place Play-off: Pool A 3^rd v Pool B 3^rd (kick-off 2.30pm) Samoa 29-46 Netherlands
• 3^rd Place Play-off: Pool A 2^nd v Pool B 2^nd (kick-off 5.15pm) Japan 75-22 Uruguay
• 1^st Place Play-off: Pool A 1^st v Pool B 1^st (kick-off 7.45pm) Scotland 48-10 USA

All of the times for the U20 Trophy tournament fixtures are here.

Hong Kong China World Rugby U20 Trophy Squad 2024

Hong Kong China have competed at every World Rugby U20 Trophy tournament since 2014, and have managed a best finish of sixth in 2018. Included in their 2024 squad are some players who competed at the tournament in Kenya in 2023, players with experience in overseas leagues and the domestic Hong Kong China Premiership.

Hong Kong China U20s Head Coach Joe Barker said the squad and management will need to ensure the environment is “fresh and lively while making sure everyone is happy and we can enjoy it as well,” due to the length of the tournament and he wants to create role models for the future and role models for our juniors to come through.

You can read more in the HKCR tournament preview here.

Japan World Rugby U20 Trophy Squad 2024

The JRFU confirmed the Japanese squad for the World Rugby U20 Trophy tournament with Japan’s U20 Head Coach Naoya Okubo naming the 28 members comprising 17 forwards and 11 backs.

The squad in Edinburgh is drawn from nine universities with Meiji University contributing the largest number of players (9), with four players from each of Teikyo University and Kyoto Sangyo University.

Okubo, said, “This team started back in December last year when 55 players gathered for trials. Since then, we have trained with Japan National Team and League One sides and played 11 matches. We have been improving steadily and building our preparation to compete on the world stage.  Our target now is to win all four matches in Scotland and to be promoted back into next year’s Championship.”

How To Watch The World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024

Matches at the World Rugby U20 Trophy can be watched anywhere in the world for free on RugbyPass TV.

World Rugby added that matches can be viewed via local broadcast partners BBC Alba for Scotland matches and the Japan Rugby Football Union for Japan’s matches. A two-hour delay will apply in the UK for all Scotland matches as well as the third place play-off and final.

2024 Rugby Tournaments

• Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 Tickets Details.
• Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Rugby Sevens Pools.
• 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship.
• WXV 2024 Details Confirmed – WXV 3 Heads Back To Dubai.