Portugal and Belgium are the Championship finalists, having defeated the Netherlands and Czechia to claim their places in the final. Romania and Switzerland will clash in the 5th-place playoff, while Moldova and Poland will be contending for 7th place.
Stejarii back on winning song.
Romania picked up a 57-7 win over Moldova in the 2nd round's opener with the U20 Stejarii putting their World Rugby Challenger experience to good use.
Winger Vlad-Ioan Ciurciun clinched his side's first five-pointer, diving in the corner to finish a team play that started from a 10-meter scrum. The Romanians added four more tries until the break as flanker David Belusica, with a brace, centre David-Florian Petrescu and Matei Bivol crossed the whitewash.
Moldova did the best they could, even delivering some dominant tackles in the first half, but their opponents were efficient with the ball and scored whenever the opportunity arose. The second half began with Adrian Albert leading a driving maul to glory, with the hooker simply crashing over the line to secure another score for Romania.
Valentin Dumitras followed next, with the utility back claiming his first brace of the tournament before Moldova had their consolation try through replacement prop Adrian Corobca.
Codrin Giusca ended any further changes to the score, securing a ninth finish for Romania, in a match where Edward-Matei Jumatate successfully converted six of nine kicks. Romania will face Switzerland for a chance to finish 5th in the U20s Men's Rugby Europe Championship.
Switzerland wins exciting arm-wrestle against Poland.
Switzerland pulled off a stunning 9-point comeback to overcome Poland, with the U20 Swiss clinching a 38-26 win in an electrifying contest!
Poland’s set-piece gave them an early advantage, allowing them to gain control of the match and score two tries in the first half-hour. Openside flanker Marko Hayes and lock Oskar Borkowski scored the tries, while Switzerland managed only three points in that same period.
However, after overcoming the errors that had plagued them for most of the first half, Switzerland finally found their way into the Polish in-goal area, with Swiss captain Keynan Fowkes scoring from close range. As fly-half Milo Laine's conversion attempt went in, Switzerland was just a non-converted try away from taking the lead for the first time. On the restart, an incredible piece of play from Fowkes set up Switzerland’s second try; the fly-half completely carved open the opposing defence before providing the assist for Derek Adams to score.
Fowkes converted a penalty to open up a six-point gap, which was wiped out in the 58th minute after a move by the Polish forward pack finished with Szymon Prokopowicz. Pedro Brezezinski added the extras, and Poland regained the lead.
Unfortunately for the Poles, Switzerland upped the tempo and proved more capable in the final stretch, overturning the deficit and securing 15 points in the span of 8 minutes, with Fowkes scoring ten.
Poland pushed hard until the final whistle, managing another try, though it wasn't enough to win. Fowkes delivered one of the best performances of the tournament; the fly-half was instrumental in everything Switzerland did well, propelling his side toward the 5th-place play-off.
Belgium one step away from the gold.
Belgium are through to the final after coming on top of the Low Countries derby, with the U20 Diables Noirs claiming a 37-33 win over the Netherlands.
In the opening ten minutes, both neighbouring rivals claimed points from the tee, as Finn Kelliher and Charles Depasse converted one penalty kick each. With pressure mounting, Belgium's backline game plan started to click, and in the 16th minute they finally broke through the Dutch defence with Thomas Wickham finishing in the corner.
The Netherlands, unable to take advantage of their driving maul, had to turn to Kelliher to add more points, with the fullback adding two more.
However, Belgium's lead dramatically expanded before the half-time break, as Depasse converted another 3-pointer and Mylo Bouckaert struck his first finish of the game.
Before the curtain fell on the first half, Toine Obiang Nguema made his physicality count, scoring the opening goal for the U20 Oranje and closing out an entertaining first half at 20–16.
The second half was no less entertaining, with 34 points scored between the two teams; Depasse added three more for Belgium, while Obiang Nguema bagged a brace, leaving the two sides separated by just two points. However, Belgium went on to play their best fifteen minutes, scoring two converted tries and building a lead the Netherlands never managed to overturn. Facing a 37-21 deficit with 19 minutes left to play, the Dutch side gave their all, at times even pinning their long-time rivals into a corner, with Nguema Obiang scoring a hat-trick in the 64th minute. Belgium’s defence stepped up from there, pushing their opponents back until the final minute, when the Netherlands managed one more score, though it was not enough to regain the lead.
Belgium will have the chance to claim the U20 Men's Rugby Europe Championship for the first time, their first final since 2023.
Portugal and Czechia deliver an all-time classic.
Portugal will have a chance to go for a three-peat after defeating Czechia 29-26 in overtime.
Winger Rodrigo Socorro was the first to draw blood, scoring on the corner after a sensational break and an assist from Salvador Silva. Czechia levelled the game from centre Ondrej Sehnal, with both tries being converted.
Unfortunately for the locals, Portugal ramped up their rhythm and regained the lead after a penalty try and a wide finish from Henrique Matias, with Tomás Marques converting only one attempt.
However, the game completely shifted after the break as Czechia regained their focus, mounting a three-try comeback to take the lead for the first time with only 5 minutes to go. Vojtech Nevicky, Tibor Svida and Matej Sehnal were the try-scorers, with Sehnal converting two, giving the locals a 26-21 lead with just a few minutes to spare.
The Portuguese side leaned on their championship pedigree and pushed for an equaliser, which finally arrived on the very last play of the match when Thomas Ribeiro drove the maul over the try line. As Marques failed to nail the conversion, both semifinalists had to go to overtime, which Portugal ultimately won thanks to a penalty kick well taken by Marques, qualifying his side for the final for a third consecutive year.
