The World Rugby U20 Challenger 2026 is underway and hosts Chile got off to a flying start with an 83-19 win over Hong Kong China. Canada and Romania he also produced a great performance to beat Namibia and Brazil, Doc Belgium amazed Portugal in pool B.
Romania 27-26 Brazil
Romania and Brazil opened the World Rugby U20 Challenger with an entertaining contest that ended with a 27-26 victory for the Eastern European side, despite Curumins after leading 16-15 at halftime.
In the opening 40 minutes, both sides scored two tries each – Daniel Caetano and Túlio Oliveira for Brazil and Edward Br??nean and Alexandru Boldor for Romania – but two successful goals from Isac da Silva from the penalty spot made it possible Curumins to enter the second half with a one-point advantage.
Brazil enjoyed the advantage at set-pieces, but Romania looked dangerous whenever they got some rhythm into their attack, despite missing several scoring chances.
With little separating the sides, Romania’s persistence ultimately proved decisive in the closing stages.
Romania went ahead minutes after the restart, only for Brazil to regain the lead. The momentum shifted again when Alexandru Boldor kicked for his second score and Antonio Mitrea followed with a conversion and a penalty to give Romania a 27-23 lead at the end. Cauã Tenório still awarded a penalty from 40 meters, but Curumins could not regain the lead before the final whistle.
Canada 95-6 Namibia
Canada put in quite a performance against Namibia, running in 15 tries to secure a 95-6 win and start their campaign on the right foot. The result marked the biggest win in Canadian U20 history, marking an unforgettable start to the tournament in Santiago, Chile.
Canada took control almost immediately and led 52-6 at halftime. Wings Briar Barron and Malin Hazle looked fired up as they both completed hat-tricks, outrunning the opposition defense on a number of occasions.
MC-Rein van Wyk was Namibia’s only scorer in the round as she kicked two penalties at half time and tried her best to lift the spirits of her teammates throughout the contest.
Canada continued to make every opportunity count and added six more tries before the final whistle. Rogan Moir, Cooper Allen, Porter Gook, Coen Quinn, Liam Kinghorn, Alistair Yeomans, Adam Stander, Eliot Marschall and Ronin Smith each scored a try, while Joe Kaufmann scored ten of the fifteen conversions.
Canada will now face Belgium in the second round, which brought the biggest defeat in the 1st round.
Belgium 22-15 Portugal
After years of coming close to defeating Portugal at the Rugby Europe Men’s Under-20 Championship, Belgium finally claimed victory at a young age Black Devils beat their European rivals 22-15.
The score remained unchanged for most of the first half as both sides were evenly matched and put up a physical but disciplined defence. However, a major lapse in concentration from Portugal opened the door for Belgium to score the first goal. After the Portuguese cross went wrong, Stade Rochelais winger Oscar Shortall made a quick dive and sent a pass to Nathan Delwarte and the scrum-half ran unopposed into the goal box.
Stunned by the turn of events, Portugal struggled to settle into their game, scoring just three points before going into half-time.
Belgium extended their lead four minutes into the second half after a superb move finished by captain Thomas Ironside Wickham. Charles Depasse added his second conversion of the match.
Portugal responded through João Pissarro and Rodrigo Socorro to get back into the contest.
With 12 minutes remaining, Samuel Meksoud put Belgium back in front before Zian Deage added a penalty to establish a decisive seven-point lead.
With victory secured, Belgium will play Canada on October 7, while Portugal will play Namibia later that day.
Chile 83-19 Hong Kong China
Under the Friday night lights, hosts Chile triumphed over Hong Kong China, winning 83-19 and making a quick start in their bid to reach the finals.
Lock wonderkid Max Schlesinger scored the first try, putting Chile ahead on six minutes, followed by winger Tomás Queirolo and center Cristóbal Serrano. Jaime Soler added two conversions and a penalty from the tee.
After a difficult opening of 23 minutes, Hong Kong China they finally made their first breakthrough when #8 Kai Tiltman crossed the line, giving his team a much-needed confidence boost.
That did little to stem Chile’s momentum, however, as the hosts scored two more tries and a penalty to go into the break 39-5 ahead.
The second half mirrored the first as Mateo Alcaide crossed for another Chilean try in the 48th minute. A minute later, a storm stopped the game for 35 minutes. After the restart, the home side struck straight away and Queirolo crossed for his second try of the match.
Although the Asian visitors managed to collect a second five-pointer from close range, landed by Sam Blackburn, the U20 Condors continued to entertain the home crowd, adding five more tries before the final whistle. Captain and defender Marco Alvano scored a brace; Gianfranco de Giorgis, Santiago Wood and Cristóbal Barrera added their names to the goalscoring list, while Hong Kong China winger Fritz Mahn grabbed a third for his side.
Chile and Romania will meet at the top of Group A in the game, while Hong Kong China takes on Brazil.
