Australia kicked hosts Argentina out of the race for the U20 Championship with a 34-13 semi-final win, while Wales and England will contest the fifth-place final.
It was an incredible result from the Junior Wallabies, who had to play 50 minutes of the match with 14 men.
After the opposition flyhalves traded a penalty each, Australia pulled into a 17-3 lead despite losing Michael McDonald to a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, as Harry Wilson touched down before McDonald scored on his return to the field.
However, the game looked to have shifted when Argentina went over in the corner. Replays showed that the ball-carrier was held up, but the Australian tackler, McDonald, had gone in around the neck. The referee made a brave call to award a penalty try and hand McDonald his second yellow and send him off, leaving the Wallabies with 14 men for the rest of the match.
Australia still managed to extend their lead when hooker Lachlan Lonergan went over from a powerful driving maul, before flyhalf Ben Donaldson scored an incredible individual try, putting them 31-13 up with 20 minutes to play. The result was sealed when Donaldson slotted a penalty to take his side into an unassailable 21-point lead with three minutes to go.
FOOT RACE! Australia’s Ben Donaldson hits the jets and speeds to chase down adn score incredible length of the pitch try at the #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/LlUiFK494t
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 17, 2019
Meanwhile, Wales beat New Zealand for only the second time in U20 history in dramatic fashion to progress to the fifth-place final.
A tight match played in wet conditions saw Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler’s first-half unconverted try divide the teams for the majority of the match.
A tense final 10 minutes commenced as New Zealand took the lead when lock Tupou Vaa’i went over for a try, converted by flyhalf Fergus Burke. A maul infringement inside New Zealand’s 22 allowed Cai Evans to slot a penalty and put Wales back ahead. New Zealand had the chance to steal the win when they won a turnover penalty after the full-time hooter, but Burke dragged his 49m attempt wide.
Under 2 minutes to go, up steps Cai Evans to slot the penalty that would give The Welsh Rugby Union only their 2nd ever win over New Zealand at the #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/AJmweMFwAR
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 17, 2019
Wales will contest the fifth-place final against England, who beat Ireland 30-23.
In other results, Italy avoided the relegation playoffs by beating Scotland U20 26-19 and Georgia beat Fiji 12-8 in the ninth-place semi-final.
Photo: @qantaswallabies/Twitter
