Australia U18 duo Justice Taumoepeau and Taione Taka are hungry to maintain Australia's recent success in the under-age internationals as they prepare for a trip over the Tasman.
The pair will take on leadership honours in their opening match of the campaign against Australian Schoolboys on Friday in Sydney.
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This precedes the team's tour of New Zealand next week, where they will face NZ Schools and NZ Barbarians.
Taumoepeau and Taka are two of the returning stars from last year's successful campaign, which swept their Kiwi counterparts in Canberra.
The victories put Australia U18 on a three-game winning streak over the Schools, a mark not achieved in over 30 years.
Skipper Taumoepeau was eager to keep that streak going.
"We really enjoyed that and there's no doubt this year that we want to do the exact same thing and continue that streak, but we know that won't come easy," he told Rugby.com.au.
"I feel like over the past few weeks we've prepped well and that starts [Friday] against Aussie Schools and then hopefully leading into some good games over in NZ."
Both return to their age grades after successful campaigns mixing it in the older age groups.
Taumoepeau recently debuted for the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby AUS, starting against the ACT Brumbies and would likely still be in the side if not for Australian commitments.
"That was huge. Being able to partner in the back row with Pete Samu, like someone I've looked up to for a while now, someone in a similar position, that was huge and to play against the Brums, that was incredible as well," he said.
For Taka, he stepped into the Australia U20 team with ease, starting four games in the Junior World Championship whilst scoring against New Zealand and South Africa in the Junior Rugby Championship.
Vice-captain Taka knows the expectation to impress, and he's eager to help guide his young backline, including Australia U16 graduates Izak Holmes and Wilson Ruthven in the halves.
"The old saying's pressure is a privilege, really. It's not a bad thing to have people relying on you," Taka believes.
"Stepping back, you're a bigger role in the team, probably got to use your voice a bit more, step up in the game a bit more instead of just leaving it to the 10s. All I've had to do much is just give some advice to these boys and then they've taken it by the hand."
