England flew out of South Africa last Saturday evening to Heathrow as the rightful champions, the consistency of their potent scrum and manipulative defence helping them to a deserved first title since 2016.
Three matches are scheduled for Stellenbosch: Ireland vs Georgia (kick-off 2pm local), France vs New Zealand (4:30pm) and South Africa vs Argentina (7pm). Over in Athlone, Wales vs Spain is the opening match (2pm) followed by England vs Fiji (4:30pm) and Australia vs Italy (7pm).
It will be round three in Athlone on July 9 when that fancied duo – last year’s beaten semi-finalists – go head-to-head in an intriguing group that also contains a dangerous Argentina and a little known Fiji.
Coach Alvaro Galindo had to make some “difficult” selection decisions when picking the Argentina Pumitas team to take on tournament hosts Australia.
Argentine Rugby has named a talented 31-man squad for the inaugural U20s Rugby Championship.