2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship

Rugby World Cup

datefrom = 2007-04-04
dateto = 2007-04-21
host = Northern Ireland
nations = 24
champion = New Zealand
runnerup = South Africa
matches = 60
attendance =
apm =
top scorer = Leigh Halfpenny ru|WAL

The International Rugby Board (IRB) awarded the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the Ulster branch hosted it. The Tournament, which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland from April 4-21, was split into two divisions of twelve teams. Division A games took place in Belfast at Belfast Harlequins' Deramore Park, Ulster Rugby's Ravenhill Stadium, and Cooke RFC/Instonians' Shaw's Bridge complex. Division B games were held in Queen's University of Belfast's The Dub complex and Malone RFC's Gibson Park in Belfast, and Bangor RFC's Upritchard Park in Bangor.

Defending champion and top seed Australia began its title defence against Ireland on April 5 as part of a Round One double-header at Ravenhill that also included number three seed New Zealand against France.

The seedings of all teams in Division A and the top six teams in Division B were based on the final standings at the 2006 Tournament. Seeds 7 – 12 inclusive in Division B represented teams who had qualified for 2007 via regional tournaments and their seeding was drawn randomly. All 24 participating teams were confirmed on January 2007.

This was the final Under 19 World Championship. The IRB decided to fold its under-19 and under-21 world championships into a two-tiered under-20 tournament structure starting in 2008. The top tier, the IRB Junior World Championship, will feature 16 teams, while eight teams will compete in the second-tier IRB Junior World Trophy.

Qualification

The following 24 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 2007 Under 19 Rugby World Championship .

Pool C

New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Wales qualified for the Division A semi-finals by virtue of having the highest points in the pool stage.

Pool A vs Pool D Results

Division B

Pool A

Pool C

Italy, Canada, Georgia and the USA qualified for the Division B semi-finals by virtue of having the highest points in the pool stage.

Pool A vs Pool D Results

Knock out phase

Using the final positions from the pool phase the knock-out round 1 matches were made on the following basis:

* Match 1 - 10th versus 11th
* Match 2 - 9th versus 12th
* Match 3 - 6th versus 7th
* Match 4 - 5th versus 8th
* Match 5 - 2nd versus 3rd (deemed a semi-final)
* Match 6 - 1st versus 4th (deemed a semi-final)

For round 2 of the knock out phase
* The loser of Match 1 plays the loser of Match 2 for 11th place
* The winner of Match 1 plays the winner of Match 2 for 9th place
* The loser of Match 3 plays the loser of Match 4 for 7th place
* The winner of Match 3 plays the winner of Match 4 for 5th place
* The loser of Match 5 plays the loser of Match 6 for 3rd place
* The winner of Match 5 plays the winner of Match 6 for 1st place (the final)

Division A

Round 1:

Round 2 (Play-offs):

Therefore New Zealand are the Under 19 Rugby "World Champions" for 2007 and Italy are promoted to Division A.

Final standings

The final standings are based on the 3 pool matches plus a further 2 matches to determine standings.

* Japan was initially demoted to Division B and Italy promoted to Division A for future World Championships. However, both teams will now compete in the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship. This event will feature all teams from the 2007 Division A, plus Italy, Canada, the USA, and Tonga.

# Zimbabwe, Chile, Romania, Russia, Chinese Taipei and the Cook Islands were initially relegated from Division B and had to enter regional competitions to qualify for future World Championships. This did not change with the creation of the Junior World Championship and IRB Junior World Trophy; Georgia and Uruguay were given automatic berths to the 2008 Junior World Trophy, while remaining nations must play in regional qualifying for the remaining six berths.

External links

* [http://www.irbu19.com/EN/Home/home.htm IRBU19.com]