WALES captain Dewi Lake fought back the tears when praising his players after their stunning win against New Zealand at the World Rugby U20 Championships – but promptly gave them a warning.

The Welsh youngsters upset the odds in horrendous conditions in Rosario on Monday when they triumphed 8-7, Ospreys centre Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler scoring a breakaway try in the first half and fly-half Cai Evans nervelessly slotting a 79th minute penalty.

Gareth Williams' prospects followed in the footsteps of the class of 2012 by beating the Baby Blacks and will now face England on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm) in a battle for fifth place in the tournament.

And it was the encounter with the men from over the Severn Bridge, who they edged out in the Six Nations clash in Colwyn Bay, that was on Lake's mind.

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"We all know how big it is to beat New Zealand, but it won't mean anything if we lose the next game. It is a massive win, but there is still another game to go," said the Ospreys hooker

"A lot of hard work went into the result against New Zealand from the players, coaches and back room staff and I am just so proud of everyone. We set out to win four out of five after losing to France and that's the goal at the weekend."

 

The pitch was plastic in Rosario but rain fell throughout, meaning a glut of handling errors and a break of almost an hour in the first half because of safety concerns.

"The break was a set-back, but both teams had to go through it. It was just a case of staying focused and getting back out and playing at the same tempo," said Lake, one of Wales' standout players in the tournament.

"We haven't dominated territory or possession in any game we have played as yet, but defensively we put in a lot of big shots and we got 11 turnovers. Theoretically we shouldn't have won, but we did and that's all that matters."

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New Zealand's defeat means the six-time champions will finish outside the top six for the first time in the 12-year history of the competition.

England started the tournament with a costly loss to Ireland but avenged that result with a dramatic 30-23 success on Monday, edging out the Irish with a try from the last play.

It was Wales that won at the death when the teams met in the north in February when Dragons wing Deon Smith powered over in a 11-10 win.

"We need to work on a few areas of our game but we look forward to playing Wales. They have beaten us already this season, so that will focus the minds of the players again," said England coach Steve Bates.

"After the disappointment of the first loss to Ireland in this competition we've showed true resilience and it is a testament to how much these boys want to play for each other."

Australia and defending champions France will contest the final after ending the title dreams of hosts Argentina and South Africa respectively.

The Aussies' nine-year wait for a second final is over after they ended Los Pumitas hopes of a first appearance in the showpiece game on home soil.

The Junior Wallabies, who were beaten 62-17 by New Zealand in the first final held in Argentina in 2010, played the entire second half with a man down after try-scorer Michael McDonald received a second yellow card trying to prevent a try but still won 34-13.

They will meet defending champions France, who responded to their group stage hammering at the hands of Argentina.

Toulon fly-half Louis Carbonel inspired Les Bleuets to a 20-7 defeat of South Africa, the 2012 champions who were bidding to reach their first final since 2014.

While Australia and France go for glory, Scotland are scrambling to avoid relegation after losing to Italy.

The Scots now face a nervy clash with Fiji, denied at the death by Georgia, to avoid dropping to the World Rugby U20 Trophy next year.

Saturday fixtures: final - Australia v France, third-place play-off - Argentina v South Africa, fifth-place play-off - Wales v England, seventh-place play-off - New Zealand v Ireland, ninth place match - Italy v Georgia, relegation match - Scotland v Fiji,