A Billy Burns conversion following a Joel Conlon try 15 minutes into the second half put the defending champions eight points ahead and seemingly on their way to retaining the title they won in France last year.

But Burns missed a penalty which was followed by a second Jesse Kriel try, converted by Junior Boks captain Handre Pollard, to reduce the deficit to a single point with 15 minutes to go.

The South Africans sensed the English nerves and piled on the pressure with the men in white camped in their own half for the final ten minutes.

The South Africans chance to snatch the win came when Bollard lined up for a drop goal but he fluffed his moment of glory and the English held on to secure the win.

The first half saw Pollard and Burns swap penalties before Kriel raced over for his first try.

A huge 55 metre penalty kick from Aaron Morris was followed by a Nathan Earle try to leave England ahead 11-10 at the break before a dramatic second half culminated in a win for the side captained by Saracens lock Maro Itoje.

Maro Itoje lifts the IRB Junior World Championship trophy in Eden Park ©Getty Images



"It doesn't feel real at the moment," said a delighted Itoje after lifting the Championship trophy.

"It feels pretty special.

"It's something I dreamt of when I heard about the Under-20 Championship and I am so happy to be able to lift the trophy."

Burns, who kicked the all-important final penalty to give England an unassailable lead, paid tribute to his forward pack for their resilience and defensive strength during the closing stages.

"Full credit to the forwards to dig it out at the end for five or six minutes," said Burns.

"It was an outstanding effort and we have worked hard all campaign and to come out with a gold medal in the end is a massive achievement.

"It was one of our big strengths.

"We always believe in ourselves and no matter what position we are in on the field we feel we can find a way out of it."

A superb defensive rearguard by England saw them squeeze over the line against a determined South Africa ©Getty Images



England had overcome neighbours Ireland in their semi-final and they took on hosts New Zealand, who lost out to the Junior Boks in their semi-final clash, in the third place play-off.

A penalty try from Ross Byrne and a try from prop Oisin Heffernan helped the men in green to take a surprise 23-21 advantage in at the break.

However, spurred on by the home crowd, the All Blacks came out fired up for the second period and racked up 24 points without reply courtesy of the boot of Damian McKenzie and tries from James Tucker, Mitchell Drummond, Richard Mo'unga and Lachlan Boshier to take the win.

The fifth place play-off saw Australia defeat France while a 20-3 win for Wales over Samoa secured seventh spot with Argentina overcoming Scotland for ninth place.

A narrow 22-17 win for Italy saw them secure their spot for next year's Junior World Championship while losers Fiji will drop down to the Junior World Rugby Trophy next year.

Fiji will be replaced by Japan who secured the Junior World Rugby Trophy with a win over Tonga in the final in Hong Kong back in April.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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