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The 2021 Junior World Championship will not take place. For the second year in a row World Rugby’s annual u20 World Cup has been cancelled. It is a major blow to all competing teams, none more so than the Tier 2 countries involved. In 2020 they were to be Fiji, Georgia, and Japan.
The year for the next possible Junior World Championship is 2022. This will mark an unprecedented gap between tournaments. Argentina hosted the most recent edition in 2019. Los Pumitas finished fourth in the tournament.
The 2020 Junior World Trophy was also canceled. The 2021 edition will also not take place. Spain was due to host the 2020 tournament. Uruguay had qualified to compete and a North American qualifier was also to be one of the eight competitors. Instead, 2022 will now be the next opportunity.
The cancelations will deprive young talent the opportunity of competing on the global stage. The 2019 Pumitas contained a number of players who are now professionals. Scrum half Gonzalo García will play for Cafeteros Pro in SLAR this year. Mateo Carreras now plays for the Newcastle Falcons and Santiago Chocobares started for Argentina in the historic win over New Zealand in the 2021 Tri Nations.
