Showdown in the semis

Baby Boks versus Baby Blacks

It is semi-final time at the International Rugby Board (IRB) Under-21 World Championships in Argentina on Tuesday, with two mouth watering showdowns to determine who will meet in the Grand Finale on Saturday.

Traditional rivals South Africa and New Zealand go head-to-head in the early semi-final (at 16.10 GMT), while Australia will face the only remaining Northern Hemisphere side, France, in the late semi (at 18.40 GMT).

Both games are being played at the Liceo Rugby Club in the Mendoza region.

The match between the Baby Boks and the Baby Blacks follows in a long line of recent age grade encounters at World Championship level between these two countries, which have seen both sides emerge triumphant.

New Zealand have won the last two Under-21 games, 49-27 at the pool stage in Scotland last year, and 38-16 in the 2003 semi-final at the Kassam Stadium in England.

At Under-19 level, South Africa have the edge. They defeated New Zealand 20-15 in Durban earlier this year to win the IRB Under-19 World Championship crown, repeating their Final win two years earlier in France.

In between these, New Zealand defeated the hosts of the 2004 U19 tournament 30-23 at the semi-final stage, before going on to win that year's trophy.

Current South Africa Under-21 captain Paul Delport has experienced both joy and anguish in these encounters. He was captain and scored a vital try to guide his side to their U19 title in 2003, but he was also on the losing side in last year's U21 pool match.

Earl Rose, who starts in the centre against New Zealand on Tuesday, was also in both of these teams.

Playing against them in that Under-19 Final, and in the squad for the Under-21s last year, were two of New Zealand's biggest stars at this year's tournament, captain Jamie MacIntosh and regular IRB Sevens captain Liam Messam.

"We're definitely looking forward to renewing those old rivalries," Delport said. "It's always good to play against players like Liam Messam and Jamie MacIntosh.

"We know what kind of players they are, they're great players, especially for the future and it's always great to be able to measure yourself against the best in the world."

Delport does not believe that New Zealand's defeat to Australia in the final pool match of this year's U21 tournament will make them any easier to beat at Liceo Rugby Club.

"Last year we lost to New Zealand in the semis and we came out firing and gave Australia a hiding, so I think New Zealand will be even more psyched up for this game and want to come out even more and beat us tomorrow [Tuesday]."

He believes that his side, despite three wins over Italy, England and Ireland, have not yet put together 80 minutes at their very best.

"We have played in patches - we've had 10-20 minute spells where we've played great rugby and we've gone to sleep a bit. We're hoping to raise the bar tomorrow and play to our full potential for the first time in the tournament."

A South Africa v New Zealand semi-final, with both teams displaying the full range of their skills, promises to continue the long line of memorable matches between these two old foes.

Meanwhile Australian coach Chris Hickey has made two changes to the team to play France in the other semi.

Brumby winger Henari Veratau will start on the wing in place of his Brumby teammate Ben Batger.

Meanwhile Brumby Runners prop Ben Alexander comes into the starting lineup, with Eastwood's Alex Walker moving back onto the bench.

Apart from the two rotational changes, the team remains unchanged from the lineup that defeated New Zealand 46-43 on Saturday.

ACT lock Daniel Guiness has flown in to Argentina to cover for James Horwill who has been ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.

Hickey said the fact that Australia had now entered the 'sudden death' end of the tournament made no difference to the team's preparations.

"The nature of this tournament has meant that every match has been a 'must win' affair," Hickey said.

"The fact that we won all three of our pool matches but still ended up in third place on the ladder shows that the entire tournament is sudden death, so there will be nothing different when we play France in the semi-final tomorrow [Tuesday].

"What has been really pleasing has been the team's composure in our three pool matches. They were all very tight matches that went down to the wire, but the players kept their concentration for the full eighty minutes and completed the job.

"In a tournament like this, you can't afford to have a lapse in concentration otherwise you are out of contention for the title, so it has been a very pleasing effort to date."

Australia is enjoying the support of a growing band of Australian fans. A group of family and friends traveled to Argentina with the team and have been joined by Australia backpackers and ex-pats who have been coming out of the woodwork to support the Australian campaign.

Fixtures for Day 4

13.00: Argentina vs England at Mendoza RC
13.00: Ireland vs Canada at Chacras RC
13.10: South Africa vs New Zealand at Liceo RC
15.30: Samoa vs Italy at Chacras RC
15.30: Wales vs Scotland at Mendoza RC
15.40: France vs Australia at Liceo RC

Referees for Day 4

Argentina vs England at Mendoza RC
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

Ireland vs Canada at Chacras RC
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

South Africa vs New Zealand at Liceo RC
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

Samoa vs Italy at Chacras RC
Referee: Paul Marks (Australia)

Wales vs Scotland at Mendoza RC
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

France vs Australia at Liceo RC
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Teams for the semi-finals:

South Africa: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cedric Mkhize, 13 Earl Rose, 12 Thabang Molefe, 11 Mzwandile Stick, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Paul Delport (captain), 8 Pieter Louw, 7 Hilton Lobberts, 6 Derick Kuun, 5 Cliff Milton, 4 Nicolai Blignaut, 3 Sangoni Mxoli, 2 Chilliboy Ralepelle, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Harry Vermaas, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Gerhard Mostert, 20 Martin Sithole, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Marius Delport.

New Zealand: 15 Richard Kahui, 14 James Somerset, 13 Aaron Bancroft, 12 Dwayne Sweeney, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 William Ripia, 9 Andrew Ellis, 8 Peter Nixon, 7 Serge Lilo, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Karl Haitana, 2 Marcel Cummings-Toone, 1 Jamie MacIntosh (captain).
Replacements: 16 Lance Po-Ching, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Jeremy Thrush, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Taniela Moa, 21 Stephen Brett, 22 Daniel Waenga.

France: 15 Jean-Baptiste Peyras, 14 Benjamin Thiery, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Sylvain Mirande, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Marc Baget, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Gérald Gambetta (captain), 5 Damien Fevre, 4 Denys Drozdz, 3 Yohann Montes, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Pierre-Philippe Lafond.
Replacements: 16 Frédéric Montagnat, 17 Alexandre Bastin, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 21 Régis Lespinas, 22 Vincent Roux

Australia: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Henari Veratau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Lloyd Johansson, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Nic Berry, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Ben Mowen (captain), 5 Dean Mumm, 4 Richard Stanford, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Geoff Abram, 17 Alex Walker, 18 Pat O'Connor, 19 Shane Udy, 20 Dominic Fuller, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Ben Batger.

Other matches:

Samoa vs Italy

This is a repeat of the match played on Day 3.

Italy: 15 Riccardo Robuschi, 14 Marco Rosa, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Enrico Patrizio, 11 Daniele Forcucci, 10 Gregorio Rebecchini, 9 Giulio Toniolatti, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Emanuele Leonardi, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 Valerio Bernabó (captain), 4 Tommaso Reato, 3 Giuseppe Cerqua, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Adrien Vignedonati.
Replacements: 16 Alessio Battisti, 17 Christian Gatto, 18 Luigi Milani, 19 Roberto Talotti, 20 Marco Pelizzari, 21Matthew Bressons, 22 Vittorio Candiago

Samoa: 15 Timoteo Iosua, 14 Fautua Otto, 13 Ekeroma Sefo, 12 Brian Toa Thetadig, 11 Gasolo Salima, 10 Rambo Tavana (captain), 9 Gafa Siona, 8 Anthony Tuimaga, 7 Sue Mikaele, 6 Stephen Sasagi, 5 Fale Solomona, 4 Julius Tafunai, 3 Kolli Mafileo, 2 Andrew Viliamu, 1 Sonny Faata.
Replacements: 16 Asomaliu Faamoe, 17  Jake Grey, 18 Anesi Seiuli, 19 Frances Tafua, 20  John Lemisio, 21 Martini Fuamatu, 22 Mikaele Pesamino

Wales vs Scotland

This match is a repeat of earlier in the tournament.

Wales: 15 Jamie Roberts, 14 Aled Brew , 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 David Watts, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Dai Flanagan, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Jonathan Mills (captain), 7 Rhys Shellard, 6 Adam Powell, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Wyn Jones, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Gerwyn Price, 1 Scot Roberts
Replacements: 16 Edward Shervington, 17 Phillip Osborne, 18 Tom Hearne, 19 Sam Wahdan, 20 James Ireland, 21 Aled Thomas, 22 Ricky Williams

Scotland: 15 Alan Nash, 14 Ben Addison, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Garry Law, 11 Nic De Luca, 10 Michael Adamson, 9 Alasdhair McFarlane, 8 John Beattie, 7 Neil Cochrane (captain), 6 Colin White, 5 Ian Nimmo, 4 Sean Tomes, 3 Moray Low , 2 Ross Ford, 1. Stuart Corsar
Replacements: 16 Stevie Lawrie, 17 Stuart Fenwick, 18 James Eddie, 19 Scott Forrest, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Scott Wight, 22 Iain Kennedy

Argentina vs England

England: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Tom Biggs, 13 Adam Dehaty, 12  Simon Whatling (captain), 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Mark Hopley, 7 Will Skinner, 6 David Seymour, 5 William Bowley, 4 Richard Blaze, 3 Aston Croall, 2 Neil Briggs, 1. Dylan Hartley
Replacements: 16 David Ward, 17 Michael Cusack, 18 Wayne Thompson, 19 James Haskell, 20 Ben Foden, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Ben Russell

Argentina: 15 Gonzalo Sarasqueta, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, Matt Cornwell (captain), 12 Federico Amelong, 11 Francisco Merello, 10 Santiago Bottini, 9 Francisco Albarracin (captain), 8 José Guzman, 7 José Manuel Roan, 6 Joaquín Brinnand, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Marcos Lobato, 3 Osvaldo Acosta, 2 Matías Cortese, 1 Santiago Moreno
Replacements: 16 Horacio Gómez Smith, 17 Juan Gómez, 18 Pablo Mollerach, 19 Carlos Roldan Verges, 20 Nicolás Bruzzone, 21 Santiago Fernández, 22 Martín Bustos Moyano

Ireland vs Canada

Ireland: 15 Mark Kettyle, 14 Daniel Riordan, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Gareth Steenson (captain), 11 Paul McKenzie, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Cillian Willis, 8 Trevor Richardson, 7Christopher Henry, 6 Anthony Kavanagh, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Alex Dunlop, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Joseph Merrigan, 1 Robert Sweeney.
Replacements: 16 Stuart Philpott, 17 John Andress, 18 Kevin McLaughlin, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Gerry Hurley, 21 Conan Doyle, 22 Ross McCarron

Canada: 15 Jarod Selby, 14 Phil Mack, 13Dave Stockton, 12 John Benson, 11Dan West, 10 Steve Woodward,  9 James Buchanan, 8 Nolan Ott, 7 David Nielsen, 6 Sam Val-Zehan, 5 Cody Berg, 4 Josh Dunning (captain), 3 Matt Evans, 2 Ken Van Allen, 1 Jordan Allers.
Replacements: 16 Rogan Verboven, 17 Glen McKinnon, 18 Pat Kearney, 19 Aaron Goddard, 20 Spence Dalziel, 21 Steve Piatek, 22 Adam Kleeberger