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Egon Seconds to blow U20 final

Cape Town - Egon Seconds will become the second South African to take charge of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship final when he takes the whistle in the showpiece match between France and England in Béziers on Sunday.

Seconds will follow in the footsteps of experienced Test referee Jaco Peyper, who refereed the U20 final in Italy in 2011.

It will be the hosts’ first appearance in the U20 final, but England will be lining up for their sixth successive final at this level.

World Rugby announced that Seconds will referee the final after a number of very good performances in the pool matches. The South African match official refereed three matches thus far at the 12-team tournament.

“We are immensely proud of Egon and we always knew he had what it takes to get to a big international final appointment,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

“The World Rugby U20 Champs is a significant tournament, not only in the development of the best young players on the planet, but also for up-and-coming match officials.”

Banks Yantolo, SA Rugby’s Referee Manager, said the World Rugby Under-20 Championship provides a great way for match officials to get exposure at a high level of international rugby.

“The way the game is played at U20 level is very different to Super Rugby or other provincial or club competitions - it’s much more technical, fast and clean and that prepares a referee differently. He will greatly benefit from having been involved in this tournament,” said Yantolo.

“Egon is a dedicated referee, and he has to be lauded for this work ethic and ambition. He is still ‘young’ in terms of his refereeing career, but we’re expecting big things from him.”

The Junior Springboks’ third-place playoff against New Zealand’s Under-20s will be refereed by Ludovic Cayre from France.

The match kicks off at 16:30.

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