The 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship was the 13th edition of the premier age-graderugby union competition. The tournament is hosted in South Africa for the second time, previously being held in 2012.[1]
The 2023 under 20 competition (alongside the Trophy) was the first global U20 competition held since 2019, with the 2020 edition, scheduled to be held in Italy, cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing instability in the world following the pandemic delaying the return of the competition. There were however various regional U20 competitions with the Six Nations Under 20s Championship and Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship continuing to take place.
The teams that participated in the tournament are listed in the table below, with a summary of their previous best results at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship included.
The following officials were named for the tournament, with an official panel of 10 referees designated to oversee the game. Assistant Referees for the pool stage were local South African referees, whilst in a World Rugby first, a TMO bunker was trialled whereby the Television Match Official focussed on the game, and a Split Screen Operator focussed on any yellow cards needing an upgrade to a red card.