Wales Under-20s have booked themselves a shot at their best Junior World Championship finish in over a decade, after surviving a rollercoaster ride against Australia in Georgia to set up a fifth-place play-off with Scotland.

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t calm, and for a few agonising minutes it looked like it might not even be theirs — but Richard Whiffin’s side got the result that matters, seeing off the Junior Wallabies at the Avchala Stadium to claim their first win over Australia at this level since 2018.

A finish for the ages

Australia thought they’d nicked it. A 79th-minute try from Jonty Fowler sent the gold shirts into wild celebrations, only for the TMO to spot a knock-on in the build-up and chalk it off.

Cue Welsh relief all round, and a first southern hemisphere scalp for these young Dragons since that famous win over New Zealand back in 2019.

Remarkably, Wales got there despite being out-scored five tries to six on the day.

Wing Rhys Cummings was the star turn with a brace, centre Osian Darwin-Lewis and skipper Deian Gwynne both crossed, and the pack muscled over a penalty try in a set-piece dominant spell.

Carwyn Leggatt-Jones did the rest with the boot, landing 11 points to help get Wales over the line.

Same old story: fast out of the blocks

If there’s one thing this Wales side have made their trademark in Georgia, it’s the fast start.

Two tries inside the first quarter became the norm in pool wins over Georgia, Uruguay and South Africa, and the habit continued here, Wales missing three big chances inside six minutes before Cummings showed real composure to finish down the right, chasing and re-gathering Steffan Emanuel’s kick superbly.

Australia lost three players to injury inside the opening quarter and found themselves further behind when Evan Minto’s barnstorming break sent Darwin-Lewis over.

But this was never going to be straightforward. A yellow card for Leggatt-Jones for a deliberate knock-on opened the door, and the Wallabies pounced: Tom Farr-Jones scoring twice either side of a Sam Blank snipe to edge back in front, 17-14.

End-to-end after the break

Wales came storming back out for the second half, Cummings hacking on twice before gathering his own kick to restore the lead.

Leggatt-Jones added the extras and a long-range penalty for good measure, before Gwynne barrelled over from close range to put Wales firmly in command.

But Australia weren’t finished. Riley Whifeld finished superbly out wide to close the gap, and when lock Luke Evans was sent to the bin for 20 minutes for a high tackle, the Wallabies made their extra man count through prop Edwin Langi.

Down to 14, Wales showed the character that’s defined their tournament, going to the corner rather than the posts and earning a penalty try, and a yellow card for Toby Brial in the process.

It was enough to hold the advantage, just, as Australia threw everything at them in the closing stages.

John Greenfell got the Wallabies back within two, and Fowler’s late try sparked scenes of celebration among the Australian camp before the TMO intervened and Wales breathed a huge sigh of relief.

What’s next

Wales now turn their attention to Scotland, who saw off Argentina 44-26 elsewhere in Tbilisi, in Friday’s fifth-place play-off (17:30 BST).

Whiffin’s men already have the beating of the Scots this year, having won their Six Nations meeting — repeat that result and this Wales U20 crop will secure their best Junior World Championship finish since that runners-up spot back in 2013.

If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.

Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.

You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.