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