THE Junior Wallabies will attack the Oceania U20 championships, looking to beat rivals New Zealand and snare the title to set up their world championship campaign.
Australia open their campaign against Japan at Bond University on the Gold Coast on Friday night, after New Zealand and Fiji play the tournament opener from 5pm.
Coach Jason Gilmore said while the event provided a good test ahead of the U20 world championships in Argentina in June, it was important in its own right.
"It's really important for us, obviously it's our first lot of games as a group, so we can see where we're at with the preparation," Gilmore said.
"But it's a competition that we want to win and build confidence and momentum leading into the World Cup."
Japan has slotted into the Oceania tournament this year alongside the Kiwis and Fiji and will have plenty of respect from their rivals.
"We played Japan last year at the World Cup and it was a really tight battle for the majority of the game," Gilmore said.
"Their rugby has improved right across the board in Japan at the moment and they'll certainly be a challenging opposition for game one but we're looking forward to playing them."
Junior Wallabies captain Fraser McReight said Australia knew to expect a tough game.
"They're physical, they love their low chop and they're evasive, so you've got to respect that," he said.
"It's important for us to respect them but also to know what we can do, so we'll focus on our game plan and take control of the game.
"Very excited, they deserve to be here and it's just a new opposition to play against.
"A lot of the boys have never played against a Japanese team."
Gilmore has named a strong side for the opener to get the campaign off to a strong start.
"There's a couple of things within the game plan that we want to do really well jut to build our foundation across the week that we'll keep adding to across the games," he said.
"But we're particular with what we want to get out of this game.
"We'll go with a pretty strong combination just to give us that momentum early in the competition and just build those combinations we need for the World Cup."
That includes Super Rugby players like Reds McReight and fullback Isaac Lucas, as well as Esei Ha’angana, who will get big minutes to ensure they have enough match time under their belts heading into the world championships.
While Australia may not have the number of stars in the Junior Wallabies program it has in the past, Gilmore hoped their time together in camp and at the Oceania championships would benefit them come Argentina.
"I don't think we've got the absolute stars coming back from Super Rugby that we had last year but what I do think is that at the end of the World Cup, those guys will be putting their hands up (for that next level) as well," he said.
"In terms of training time, we're probably a camp short from last year but with the actual boys in the starting 15, we've had them longer in camps, which has been really good.
"That obviously builds good combination with what we're doing across the board."
The Junior Wallabies take on Japan at Bond University on the Gold Coast, kicking off at 7pm, after New Zealand and Fiji play at 5pm. All games streamed LIVE on RUGBY.com.au.
