The Australian Under-20 squad today departed for South Africa, ahead of the IRB Junior World Championship being held 4-22 June.
The side will leave with some confidence, having defeated the Samoan Under 20s 57-12 in a trial match last Friday.
While happy with the match, Australian Under-20 coach Anthony Eddy knows there is still work to be done before the tournament.
“It was a good start,” Eddy said.
“We’ve had good preparation and the squad is looking good.
“It was good to get a hit out before the tournament.”
One change has been made to the squad prior to departure, with Malietoa Hingano replaced by Jock Merriman due to injury.
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 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.
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.
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
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
Jock Merriman
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
