The second round of games were played in monsoon conditions meaning the teams who could adapt to the conditions best had an advantage. From this the biggest upset of the competition happened as Wales managed to kick one more penalty than new Zealand to win by 9-6. Both kickers missed loads of pots at goal, but Wales also played the conditions better as they forced the Kiwis to play large parts of the game in their half and then tackled them into errors giving their kickers the chance to punish indiscretions. This was the first time the Junior All Blacks have been put under real pressure and they cracked. This win means that New Zealand may well now have to progress tro the next stage as the best runner-up.
The next big surprise of the day was Argentina who beat Australia 15-3. For the Wallabies it was a case of failing like their senior team to cope with wet and in fact muddy conditions. Argentina have two big scalps now and must be almost certain to progress to the next stage. France beat Scotland with the last play to claim the tightest of victories 30-29, This ending any chances for the Scots.
South Africa beat Italy as expected and by 52-3 which is a good score given the conditions. England however had a big scare against Ireland and had to come from 3-15 to eventually win 20-15 which keeps them in the driving seat but still needing to beat South Africa to be certain of progressing.
Well with the surprise results we fell down on the New Zealand and Australia results, though the rest were correct. If the weather improves we will go back to predicting normal service for the next round of games and our predictions as ever are in bold:
Pools
Pool A: Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Wales
Pool B: England, Ireland, Italy, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, Australia, France, Scotland
Results Day Two
07 08 Jun Pool A 14:45 Fiji 15-3 Samoa University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
08 08 Jun Pool A 16:45 New Zealand 6-9 Wales Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
09 08 Jun Pool B 18:45 South Africa 52-3 Italy University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
10 08 Jun Pool B 18:45 England 20-15 Ireland Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
11 08 Jun Pool C 14:45 Australia 3-15 Argentina Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
12 08 Jun Pool C 16:45 France 30-29 Scotland University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
Fixtures
All times local
13 12 Jun Pool A 16:45 Wales v Samoa University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
14 12 Jun Pool A 18:45 New Zealand v Fiji University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
15 12 Jun Pool B 14:45 Ireland v Italy Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
16 12 Jun Pool B 18:45 South Africa v England Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
17 12 Jun Pool C 14:45 Argentina v Scotland University of Western Cape Stadium, Cape Town
18 12 Jun Pool C 16:45 France v Australia Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch