The IRB Under 20’s Junior World Championship was first competed for in Wales in 2008 as an amalgamation of the previous IRB U19 and IRB U21 competitions.
The original tournament featured 16 sides but since 2010 has been contested by 12 men’s junior national teams with an Under 20 age requirement.
The Junior World Championship is the upper level of a new IRB tournament structure for U-20 national sides. At the same time that the Junior World Championship was launched, the IRB also launched a second-level championship, the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, featuring eight teams.
Since it’s inception the competition has been dominated by the southern hemisphere, with England the only northern hemisphere side to make the finals. In reality the competition has been dominated by New Zealand U20’s affectionately (or otherwise) known as the Baby Blacks who have won every tournament and remain unbeaten over the tournament’s three year history.
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