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Five 2023 U20 Championship players who are already playing Test rugby
By Liam Heagney
It was last July in Cape Town when France completed their hat-trick of World Rugby U20 Championship titles following a four-year wait. They had captured honours in Beziers and Rosario in 2018 and 2019 only to have designs on a three-peat iced until 2023 due to the pandemic cancellation of the tournament.
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Their patience was rewarded with a final win over Ireland at Athlone, which brought to an end a compelling renewal of the U20s age-grade that included Italy producing a magical pool upset versus hosts South Africa in the Paarl mud.
Multiple stars were born, especially from the better performing European teams who had the advantage of having a taxing Six Nations tournament some months earlier which helped to give them an advantage versus their southern hemisphere rivals.
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That leg-up has remained evident in the post-tournament legacy where some players from France, England and Wales have become Test caps featuring in the recent Guinness Six Nations.
An Ireland rookie has also just embarked on his country’s two-Test series tour of South Africa as an uncapped inclusion. Here are five stars from the 2023 U20 Championship who have enjoyed a fast-track 11 months up the representative ladder:
A new French star in the making… Posolo Tuilagi with Liam Heagney post-game in Paarl #WorldRugbyU20s #FRAvNZR pic.twitter.com/lkiQbP0fo0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 29, 2023
Posolo Tuilagi (France)
A late arrival in South Africa due to a visa issue, the Samoan-born second row giant announced himself to the world in the Paarl mud when he skittled New Zealand in a second-round pool match and then gave an interview in the rain to RugbyPass that quickly went viral.
A son of Henry, he was three when the family moved to France after a few years in England while dad played for Leicester. Tuilagi, whose weight is in and around the 145kg mark, came into the U20s tournament having already made a Top 14 breakthrough at Perpignan.
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Not only has he consolidated his place at the club, but he has also become a Test-level pick for Fabian Galthie’s France, debuting off the bench last February versus Ireland and winning two more caps since then.
Is now set to tour Argentina with the senior squad even though he would have been eligible to return to South Africa for the 2024 U20 Championship as he only turns 20 years at the end of July.
Chandler Cunningham-South (England)
The back-rower arrived in Cape Town having enjoyed a breakthrough season at London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. It was the Thursday before the start of the tournament when RugbyPass caught up with the bubbly character whose effervescent personality shone through even though he had spent the past few weeks redundant after the collapse of the Exiles.
Born in England, he grew up in New Zealand and only returned to the land of his birth in February 2022 when offered a spot in the Irish academy. About the move, he told RugbyPass, “It’s a 27-hour flight, I wasn’t coming to mess around.”
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He sure hasn’t. Soon confirmed as a Harlequins signing, he blasted his way through the U20s tournament with a bruising effort and his continuation of that physical presence in the Premiership with Quins over the winter resulted in a call from Steve Borthwick last January.
Went on to play off the Test bench on four occasions during the Six Nations before his 21st birthday on March 18, his run of selection only ended by an injury versus Ireland. Has since bounced back, starting the first Test match of his career in last Saturday’s win over Japan in Tokyo.
The RugbyPass quickfire with Chandler Cunningham-South… why he doesn’t wear a gumshield, sneaky pre-game McDonald’s as a teen, why he would love a veterinary degree, and much more – with Liam Heagney ??? #EnglandRugby #WorldRugbyU20s #ENGvIRE
https://t.co/iyAbRBpVjN— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 24, 2023
Cameron Winnett (Wales)
It was a busy Tuesday in Cape Town last year when RugbyPass caught up with the Welsh full-back on the first floor of his team’s hotel on Strand Street. We had just come off a Zoom with Sam Warburton, who had confessed he only knew the youngster by name and not by reputation.
Six months later when we touched base with Warburton again, he now knew all about Winnett as he had impressively started the season with Cardiff and the former Wales captain reckoned he would be a rookie pick in the Warren Gatland squad for the 2024 Six Nations.
So it proved. After turning 21 on January 7, he was soon running on the Test pitch and so comfortable was he in that environment he went on to start all five games in that campaign and he is now Australia-bound following a sixth cap in last Saturday’s defeat to the Springboks in London.
That’s quite the feat given the ambition he told RugbyPass 11 months ago that he had for 2023/24. “I’m still young and don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I need to take every moment as it comes, but I definitely want to start having more game time with Cardiff. That is probably my aim next year.”
Why Sam Warburton is backing 20-year-old Cardiff full-back Cameron Winnett for a Six Nations call-up with Wales. #GuinnessSixNations #Wales pic.twitter.com/5d2by8ifRk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 7, 2023
Nicolas Depoortere (France)
The midfielder, who already had a dozen first-team outings at Bordeaux on his CV, was at the creative heart of the title-winning French team. His handling was especially eye-catching and he has taken that success to an even greater level this season.
Not only has he become a talisman of the Bordeaux team that has qualified for this Saturday’s Top 14 final versus Toulouse, but he became another youngster who caught the eye of Galthie as he was capped twice during the Six Nations after turning 21 on January 13.
Sam Prendergast (Ireland)
Unlike the quartet mentioned above, the Ireland youngster has yet to be capped at Test level but he is now very much in the frame after Andy Farrell included him in the squad for the series against the world champion Springboks.
It was February 12 when he turned 21 and there was talk since then of a possible loan switch to Connacht for the 2024/25 season as his older brother Cian plays there. However, that move has since been squashed.
He finished the season with 16 Leinster appearances and while just four were as a starter, his tour selection by Farrell ahead of the Byrne brothers suggests a change in the provincial pecking order is likely next season following another trophy-less campaign from Leo Cullen’s side.
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Here we go again eh,Leinster trophyless again. I think you'll find there have only been 2 seperate clubs who have won the champions cup in the last 3 seasons,La Rochelle and Toulouse. 3 seperate clubs have won the Urc.That's 5 teams,so all the rest of the clubs have been trophyless. You would think Leinster were the only team that played Rugby!!!