Having wiped Ireland's eye to secure the 2023 Rugby World Cup, France have now been named as hosts for next summer's U20 championship.
World Rugby confirmed the tournament will be played in Béziers (Stade de la Méditerranée), Perpignan (Stade Aimé Giral) and Narbonne (Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié) over a 19-day period between the end of May and middle of June. The semi-final and final venues will be announced at a later date.
Ireland have been placed in Pool C alongside Les Bleus, South Africa and Georgia. The pool winners and best runner-up progress to the semi-finals.
Peter Malone's side will get a look at France in a couple of months; they start their Six Nations campaign at Amedee Domenech in Brive this February.
Last summer, they lost all three of their pool games to Italy, Scotland and New Zealand in what was a difficult World U20 Championships in Georgia.
In 2016, they made it all the way to the final before losing 45-21 to the English.
"Following the success of Georgia, which broke all social media records, we are delighted to be heading to France and the rugby cities of Narbonne, Béziers and Perpignan," said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.
"I am sure that the championship will capture the imagination and it will be fascinating to see who graduates to Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan."
FFR President Bernard Laporte added: "We are honoured to be hosting the World Rugby U20 Championship, which plays an important role in the international development of the sport.
"It is a proven developer of young talent and players who graduate from France 2018 will go on to compete at the highest-level at future Rugby World Cups, including 2023 in France."
Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Wales and Japan
Pool B: England, Scotland, Italy and Argentina
Pool C: South Africa, France, Ireland and Georgia
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