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IRB U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

News

Chile to host inaugural `Junior World Trophy`

Thursday 30th August 2007

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced that Chile will host the inaugural IRB Junior World Trophy in April 2008. The tournament, which will feature eight second-tier nations, will be played in Santiago.

The competition will act in unison with the first-tier Junior World Championship and a promotion and relegation system will operate between the two, with the top team in the Trophy swapping places with the bottom team in the Championship.

The inaugural tournament will comprise two automatic qualifiers - Georgia and Uruguay (from the IRB Under-19 World Championship 2007 rankings). They will be joined by six qualifiers from each of the regional Under-19 tournaments - Chile (CONSUR), Jamaica (NAWIRA), Namibia (CAR) and yet-to-be-determined qualifiers from FIRA-AER, FORU and ARFU. The qualifier process will be completed by the end of 2007.

"The six annual regional qualifying tournaments provide all our Member Unions with regular access to international age-grade competition," said Mark Egan, IRB Head of Rugby Services.

"Additionally the qualifiers provide an important competitive testing ground and development pathway for aspiring international players."

"The IRB will be investing close to £3m [$6m] across all regional and World Age Grade Tournaments in 2008 which reflects the strategic importance of these competitions for both retaining players in the Game and providing the breeding ground for the future international stars.

"The IRB is delighted that Chile and the city of Santiago will host the IRB Junior World Trophy next year.

"Chile has a heritage of hosting major rugby yournaments including the FIRA run 32-team Under-19 Championship in 2001, an IRB Sevens World Series tournament in 2002 and is also a regular host of CONSUR regional tournaments.

"With a passionate rugby community, outstanding facilities and full backing from the government, Chile has a wonderful opportunity to get the new IRB Age Grade World Championship Tournament era off to a successful start by hosting what should be a memorable event."