Ireland U20’s eased past Fiji 47-27 in their final Pool B match of the U20 World Cup Championships on Tuesday in an emotional game for the Irish squad.
Tries from Danny Sheehan, Andrew Osborne, and George Hadden, and braces from Brian Gleeson and Gus McCarthy proved too much for Fiji who finish bottom of Pool A.
This win, along with England’s draw with Australia, means that Ireland top Pool B and will face tournament hosts South Africa this Sunday in the semi-final at the Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town (kick-off 3:30 pm GMT).
The other semi-final sees the winners of Pool A, France, facing England who are the best second-place finishers by points difference. (kick-off 18:00 GMT).
The final matches of the group stage were played hours after the news that Greig Oliver, father of Irish u20 scrum-half Jack Oliver, had passed away in a paragliding accident in Cape Town.
Grieg, 58, was in South Africa supporting Oliver in the U20 World Cup and was a well-known figure in Munster Rugby as well as being a former Scotland international.
This devastating news came days after the death of two 18-year-old men who were on a post Leaving Cert holiday in Greece.
Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, former St. Michael’s College students, died tragically last weekend on the island of Ios. This news came as a huge shock to the young squad, with six of the squad having attended St. Michael’s.
The Irish squad wore black armbands in remembrance of Max, Andrew and Grieg in their match versus Fiji.
The remaining teams will play in a knockout round for overall ranking within the tournament, with all games taking place on Saturday, July 9th.
Knockout fixtures:
Italy U20 vs Fiji U20 at the Paarl Gymnasium, Paarl (kick-off 10:00 am GMT)
Argentina U20 vs Japan U20 at the Paarl Gymnasium, Paarl (kick-off 12:30 pm GMT)
New Zealand U20 vs Australia U20 at the Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town (kick-off 1:00 pm GMT)
Georgia U20 vs Wales U20 at the Paarl Gymnasium, Paarl (kick-off 3:00 pm GMT)
Conor Cantwell
Conor Cantwell is a freelance sports journalist based in Co. Meath. Conor has been covering club football in Ireland and England since 2022. Conor has a keen interest in soccer, Gaelic games, rugby, tennis and basketball and has been writing blogs about the Premier League and the NBA since 2022.