Without playing Ireland have won Pool B in the World Rugby U20 Championship after their match against Australia was cancelled this afternoon in Cape Town.
Heading into this match Ireland needed to just avoid defeat to progress to the semis while Australia needed a victory if they were to have any chance of progressing after their loss to Italy last week.
Conditions at the Athlone Sports Stadium were far from ideal as the rain was bucketing down. Both sides had agreed to warm up away from the main pitch in an effort to preserve it which meant some of the Irish warm-up took place in the car park at the ground.
The match was first delayed past its 1pm Irish time kick-off then subsequently cancelled altogether.
2024 World Rugby Under 20 Championship Pool B, Athlone Sports Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa 9/7/2024
Ireland U20 vs Australia U20
The team warm up in the car park due to the weather
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
World Rugby then confirmed that both Ireland and Australia will be awarded two points. This means that Ireland topped Pool B on 11 points and progress to the semifinals this Sunday while Australia will not progress to the final four.
Speaking to Rugby Pass after the cancellation Ireland U20s Head Coach Willie Faloon spoke about the mood in the squad as Ireland top the pool without playing their final game.
It's definitely mixed emotions today, obviously happy to be in a semifinal but the lads are really disappointed they didn't get to play today.
We thought we had a point to prove, it wasn't our best performance against Georgia so the guys were really up for this game, they were looking forward to it and Australia are a really good team and it was an opportunity for us to go out and put a performance in.
INTERVIEW: What Ireland U20s coach Willie Faloon had to say about the cancellation of their match versus Australia, from Liam Heagney 🎙️ in Athlone. #WorldRugbyU20s #IREvAUS #IrishRugby #JuniorWallabies #rugby pic.twitter.com/chd6Pn5pLC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 9, 2024
The other pool toppers New Zealand and England are still to play at time of writing but with New Zealand facing Spain and England playing hosts South Africa it is likely that New Zealand could run up a score on Spain and finish as the top seed.
In that case they'll face the best runners-up while Ireland U20s will face England in a repeat of their Six Nations classic earlier this year.
However, if both England and New Zealand lose that would leave Ireland as top seed where they would face the best runners-up which looks to be a battle between France, Wales, Argentina and South Africa.
