Australian Under 20s prepare for 2012 JWC

Thu, May 17, 2012, 2:00 AM
AAP
by AAP

A 28-man Australian Under-20 squad will assemble at the Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen this Friday, as final preparations begin for the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa in June.

The squad, selected by coaches Anthony Eddy and David Nucifora, features several marquee players, including the captain and current St.George Queensland Reds fetcher Liam Gill.

The Australian Under 20s will look to improve on last year’s performance at the IRB Junior World Championship, where they finished third following a 37-7 loss to New Zealand in the semi-final, before beating France 30-17 in the third-fourth playoff game.

The squad will spend 10 days together in Australia, before heading to South Africa to continue preparations for the tournament. In Australia, preparations will include a trial game against the Samoan Under 20s at Pittwater Rugby Park on Friday 25 May.

The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship sees Australia’s Under 20s as the top seed of Pool C, taking on France, Argentina and Scotland.

Pool A features New Zealand, Fiji, Wales and Samoa while Pool B contains England, South Africa, Ireland and Italy.

In its brief history since changing from the Australian Under-19 and Under-21 programs, the Australian Under-20 side has nurtured the talent of a number of current Qantas Wallabies and FxPro Super Rugby players including, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, David Pocock, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Rob Horne and Kurtley Beale.

This year’s tournament will also feature an additional Australian element in the appointment of referee Angus Gardner, who will officiate at the IRB Junior World Championship for the first time.

Fox Sports will broadcast all Australian Under-20 matches along with a selection of other matches from the IRB Junior World Championship. More details around broadcast times and channels will be made available closer to the tournament.

Australian Under 20 Junior World Championship Squad

Player

State

Club

Allan Alaalatoa

NSW

West Harbour

Curtis Browning

QLD

University of Queensland

Lindsay Crook

QLD

University of Queensland

Steven Cummins

NSW

Eastwood

Thomas Cusack

ACT

Royals

James Dargaville

NSW

Sydney University

Allan Faalavaau

VIC

Endeavour Hills

Con Foley

QLD

University of Queensland

Nicholas Frisby

QLD

GPS

Liam Gill

QLD

Sunnybank

Kyle Godwin

WA

Associates

Malietoa Hingano

NSW

Manly

Lewis Holland

ACT

Queanbeyan

Jed Holloway

NSW

Southern Districts

Oliver Hoskins

WA

Manly

Sam Jeffries

NSW

Sydney University

Silatolu Latu

NSW

Sydney University

Apolosi Latunipulu

NSW

Southern Districts

Matthew Lucas

QLD

Sunnybank

Leslie Makin

ACT

Queanbeyan

Sean McMahon

QLD

GPS

Benn Melrose

NSW

Sydney University

Maile Ngauamo

QLD

Sunnybank

Pettowa Paraka

QLD

Easts

Sam Reiser

QLD

University of Queensland

Hugh Roach

NSW

Eastwood

Christopher Sautia

QLD

Souths

Ulupano Seuteni

QLD

Easts

Management Team

Name

Position

David Nucifora

Coach

Anthony Eddy

Coach

Dan Bowdler

Manager

Adrian Thompson

Support Coach

Craig Twentyman

Strength and Conditioning

Peter Welsh

Doctor

Campbell Hanson

Physiotherapist

Hiroyuki Hamamura

Analyst

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