Junior World Champs: Day one
Finalists of the past two tournaments, New Zealand and England both started their Junior World Cup campaigns with wins on Saturday.
Finalists of the past two tournaments, New Zealand and England both started their Junior World Cup campaigns with wins on Saturday.
Australia and South Africa both cruised to comfortable wins, while Wales laboured past Samoa and France squeezed past Ireland in a thriller, on a terrific opening day's action.
Pool A
New Zealand 44-11 Fiji
Wales 22-13 Samoa
The Baby Blacks, who have beaten England in the two previous finals, wasted no time in getting points on the board in their match against Fiji, with fly-half Hayden Parker kicking two penalties within the first five minutes.
It was from this position the Baby Blacks steadily took control of the game, reverting to form to secure clean ball from set pieces while placing their backs in a strong attacking position.
New Zealand increased their lead to 20-0 with tries from wing Glen Robertson and prop Jeff Allen inside 25 minutes, but a resurgent Fiji, roared on by the crowd, began to play a more attacking style of play.
Fiji reaped the rewards when some good handling by the backs allowed wing Christopher Nasiganiyavi dotted down for what was to be their only try of the match against a country that has never lost a Junior World Championship match.
An excellent 50-metre penalty by fly-half Josh Matavesi ensured Fiji went in trailing 20-8 at half, but that was as close as they were to get to the Baby Blacks in the match.
Rory Grice scored six minutes after the restart to extend the Baby Blacks' lead before Parker and Matavesi exchanged penalties. Flanker Sean Polwart and full-back Tom Marshall crossed to bring up the bonus point in the 44-11 win as New Zealand shut down any Fijian attack with some resolute defence.
The try-scoring bonus point means New Zealand sit top of Pool A from Wales, who had to dig deep to overcome a spirited Samoan side 22-13 at Club Atletico Estudiantes in Parana.
However, it could have been a different story had Samoa not had an off-day with the boot, fly-half Patrick Fa'apale missing three penalties and two conversions in the first half and then replacement Karl Maleilegaoi failing with a penalty late in the second half.
Fa'apale missed two penalties in the first 10 minutes, unlike his opposite number Matthew Jarvis who kicked his first two attempts between the uprights to give Wales a 6-0 advantage after 15 minutes.
The Samoan's third attempt also missed the target, but the Islanders finally did get on the scoreboard within minutes when wing Lole Tualaulelei touched down. However, Fa'apale was again off target with the conversion as the missed points began to stack up for Samoa.
Samoa, though, did go in at half-time with a slender 10-9 advantage after prop Joe Sililoto crossed for a second try, but coach Ofisa Tonu'u would have been rueing the 13 points that went begging thanks to Fa'apale's off-day with the boot.
Jarvis kicked Wales back in front within minutes of the restart, before Fa'apale finally found his range to give Samoa a 13-12 advantage with over half an hour still to play. The score remained that way for 20 minutes with Jarvis punishing another Samoan miss to regain the lead for Wales.
Beck, a member of the Welsh side that finished sixth in the last year's Junior World Championship in Japan, then stepped up to ease any nerves with the only try of the match for Wales, Jarvis' conversion taking them out beyond a converted try.
Pool B
England 48-22 Argentina
France 25-22 Ireland
Jonny May's hat-trick helped propel England to a 48-22 win over IRB Junior World Championship 2010 hosts Argentinaat Estadio El Coloso del Parque in Rosario.
England, runners up in the two previous Junior World Championships, ran in a total of five tries with centre May combining well with fly-half Freddie Burns in the match which yielded an almost identical score to when they sides met at U18 level two years ago.
It took England just six minutes to get their first points on the board this time around when Argentinean hooker Emiliano Coria was ruled offside, allowing full-back Tom Homer to kick the resulting penalty.
However, a couple of minutes later the crowd of more than 15,000 went crazy as Los Pumitas full-back Ramiro Moyano burst through the England defence to score the game's opening try.
Ignacio Rodriguez Muedra added the conversion, but then missed with a penalty attempt which proved costly when Homer replied with his own effort to bring England to within a point at 7-6.
Brian Ormson missed with a drop goal attempt, but Coria had the crowd on their feet again when he exposed a gap in the English defence to score Argentina's second try in the 25th minute and atone for his earlier indiscretion.
England, though, hit back when May tore up the sideline to score his first try just before the half-hour mark and the centre added a second after another Homer penalty to give his side a 23-14 lead.
The boot of fly-half Freddie Burns continued to punish Los Pumitas, but his opposite number Rodriguez Muedra ensured Argentina went in trailing only by four points with his side's third try of the half.
Rodriguez Muedra's penalty cut the deficit to 23-22 within two minutes of the restart, but this was quickly cancelled out as indiscipline gave Homer another kickable penalty.
May completed his hat-trick before England coach Mark Mapletoft began to ring the changes, which paid off with the new additions helping to re-energise the pack and leading to a try for captain Jacob Rowan.
There was still time for Sevens star Christian Wade to race away for his side's fifth try to seal the 48-22 victory and take England top of Pool B by virtue of the bonus point picked up, which takes them above France, forn whom replacement Gilles Bosch kicked a late penalty to snatch a 25-22 victory over Ireland.
Only two minutes earlier Ireland had seemingly snatched the first draw in the tournament's history after James McKinney curled a conversion in from the right touchline to level the scores at 22-22.
Simon Zebo's score in the corner had given McKinney the pressure kick, the wing having been on hand to touch down after breaks from full-back Andrew Conway and centre Eoin Griffin took Ireland to within inches of the French line.
However, replacement Brian Hayes was penalised for a high tackle and Bosch calmly stepped up to slot the penalty between the posts and break Irish hearts to give France a winning start to the Junior World Championship in Argentina.
Bosch had already played his part in getting France back into the lead after three penalties from the boot of McKinney had turned a 12-3 half-time deficit into a 15-12 advantage for Ireland within 15 minutes of the restart.
France replacement Romain Taofifenua was held up over the line by some desperate Irish defence, but they did not have too long to wait before number eight Antoine Erbani powered over from close range for the game's