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Wales U20 set for historic final

Wales U20 set for historic final

Wales’ clash with England in Sunday’s Junior World Championship final will be the first in the competition’s history to be contested without New Zealand.

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Danny Wilson’s men reached the final two with a thrilling win over South Africa, Sam Davies clinching the 18-17 victory with a last minute conversion. 

The Ospreys man added the extra two points to Ashley Evans’ try and after England edged out the Baby Blacks in an entertaining semi-final, it set up an Anglo-Welsh final.

After the two thrilling semi-finals, IRB Tournament Director Philippe Bourdarias said: “We saw again the reason why the IRB Junior World Championship is so popular with rugby fans around the world – exciting and open, running rugby.

“It just goes to show how competitive the game has become at this level over the last few years.

“It’s the first time New Zealand won’t take part in a final but Wales and England performed really well and deserve to be competing in the final. It’s going to be an extraordinary match on Sunday here in Vannes.”

After wins over Samoa, Scotland, Argentina and South Africa, Wales will be full of confidence ahead of their meeting with England.

The two sides last met in this year’s Six Nations at Colwyn Bay with a Grand Slam on the line. England ran out 28-15 winners that day but if Wales can keep up the form they’ve shown throughout the tournament, they will be more than confident of reversing that result.

“Defence is a huge part of our game and we’ve come into this tournament and not conceded too many tries,” said Davies after the win over South Africa.

“We showed again that if our defence is on top form we can beat anyone.”

“Hopefully we can get everyone right for the final,” added skipper Ellis Jenkins.

“It’s not going to get any easier in the next game but we can work on a few things and it’s a big game coming up on Sunday.”

While England may have won their last game against Wales, they are well aware of the threat posed by Wilson’s side.

“They’re a really tough team and we’ve got to be right on the money,” Exeter Chiefs fly half Henry Slade told the BBC after the win over New Zealand.

Slade, who kicked three conversions and four penalties in the semi-final, added: “We played them (Wales) in the Six Nations decider in March and that was tough.

“It’s awesome to have two northern hemisphere teams in the final for the first time.”

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Wales U20 set for historic final