France and South Africa will contest the title at the World Rugby Junior World Championship 2026. The line-up was settled on Monday 13 July in Tbilisi, after the semi-finals: Les Bleuets beat New Zealand 26-22 through a last-gasp try by Adrien Drault, while the Junior Springboks downed England 53-37.
South Africa's was a statement performance. England led 17-7 and lost flanker Seb Kelly to a 32nd-minute straight red for a headbutt on Luan Giliomee, reaching half-time 20-12. In the second half the Junior Springboks made their numerical advantage count with five tries, overturning the game and extending a run of 10 consecutive Junior World Championship victories. Khuthadzo Rasivhaga scored a hat-trick and Kebotile Maake crossed twice, with Luke Cannon also touching down; for England, reduced to 14 then 13 after Giliomee's second red for a contact in the air, Jonny Weimann, Tate Williams and Hugh Shields replied.
It will be the first time France and South Africa meet in a Junior World Championship final. The defending champions, who won in Italy last year, are bidding to retain the crown, while France — this year's U20 Six Nations winners — are chasing a fourth title. France reached the decider by beating New Zealand; England and New Zealand, meanwhile, meet on Saturday in the third-place play-off at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, as the curtain-raiser to the final.