Eligibility

A player may play for a Participating Union in the Tournament if he is eligible to play for that Union in accordance with IRB Regulations Relating to the Game (Regulation 8) in force at the time of the Tournament.

For the avoidance of doubt this shall be:

a) Born in the country; or

b) One parent or grand parent was born in that country; or

c) He has completed thirty six consecutive months of Residence immediately preceding the time of playing;

Furthermore that the player shall be born between 1^st January 1988 and 31^st December 1989.

No players born outside the stipulated period shall be permitted to play in the competition.

Tournament Structure

The 24 teams competing in the IRB Under 19 World Championship shall be divided into two divisions and subsequently allocated to four pools of three. Division B matches will take place the day before Division A matches.

Division B

Division A

Teams will be seeded into pools on the following basis:

· Performances in the 2006 IRB Under 19 World Championship

· Performances in the appropriate regional qualifying tournaments.

5.6.3 Pool Matches in Division A & B will be played on the following basis:

DIVISION B

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

DIVISION A

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Pool Matches will be played across the pools and match points will be awarded on the following basis:

· Win 4 points

· Draw 2 points

· Loss 0 points

Bonus points will be awarded in the pool matches for teams scoring 4 tries or
more and to teams if it loses by 7 points or less.

Points will be awarded at the completion of the match and no extra time shall be played.

After the completion of the pool matches, teams in the divisions shall be ranked 1-12 on the basis of the most match points.

In the event of two teams being equal on match points for any position then such position shall be determined by the winner of the match between the two teams.

If this does not produce a result or the two teams did not meet, then the ranking shall be produced on the following basis:

i. best differential between points scored for and points scored against. If this does not produce a result then

ii. best differential between tries scored for and against. If this does not produce a result then

iii. most points scored. If this does not produce a result then

iv. most tries scored. If this does not produce a result then

v. toss of a coin.

In the event of more than two teams being equal on points then points (i) – (v) shall be used.

Knock Out Matches

The knock-out matches shall then be drawn on the following basis:

Division B

Division A

The second knockout round of matches shall be played on the following basis:

Division B

Division A

Draw after no side in the knock out rounds (other than final).

If after no side the teams have tied, then no extra time shall be played and the winner shall be determined by the following method:

a) the team to score the most tries in that particular match, if no winner can be declared then,

b) the team to score the most converted tries in that particular match, if no winner can be declared then;

c) penalty shoot-out between the two teams

e) a penalty shoot out shall take place as follows:

i) The kicks at goal should be part of the match and be the responsibility of the referee. The touch judges and match commissioner may help the referee. Before the kicks at goals, the two captains shall toss a coin to decide which goal posts and toss again to decide who will kick first.

ii) The first series will consist of 5 placed kicks taken on the 22 metres line in front of the posts.

The kicks at goal will be taken, for each Team, by each of the five players, nominated by the Captains, who were on the field of play at the end of that match. In the event of an injury, a player initially nominated to kick, may be replaced however his replacement shall be a player who was on the field of play at the end of that match.

The five players shall take it in turns to kick at goal. Teams will alternate: Team A, Team B, Team A, Team B, etc.

iii) In the event of a tie after the first series of kicks at goal, additional kicks shall be taken, still from the 22 metres line in front of the posts, alternatively by each Team, until one Team has an advantage for the same number of kicks taken.

iv) Each of these additional kicks shall be taken by a different player who did not participate in the first series of kicks.

For the Final

If after no side the teams have tied, the winner shall be determined by the following method:

a) the team to score the most tries in that particular match; if no winner can be declared then;

b) the team to score the most converted tries in that particular match, if no winner can be declared then;

c) if this does not produce a result then both finalists shall become joint cup holders.

Promotion and relegation

The team who wins the Division B competition will be promoted into Division A for the following years competition. The team who finishes 12^th in Division A shall be relegated into Division B for the following years competition.

Teams who finish in positions 7 – 12 in Division B shall be relegated out of the competition for the following year and in order to participate will need to qualify through the Regional competitions.