Rugby Australia name 41 players in U20 Junior Wallabies' squad

Rugby Australia has named a 41-man Junior Wallabies squad as preparations build for the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 in South Africa.

The selected players will attend a ten-day training camp with head coach Nathan Grey at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from Sunday 23 April.

The Junior Wallabies are drawn to face Fiji, Ireland and England in the pool stage of the Championship, which kicks off on 24 June.

“With club seasons kicking off over the last few weeks, it’s been great to see the players performing well and putting their hands up for selection,” Grey said.

“This camp is an important stepping stone in the team’s development, where we’ll build on the work done at our first camp in February.

“The excitement is definitely growing as we look ahead to our three warm-up games and beyond that, challenging for the title in South Africa.”

Final preparations for the tournament will include two fixtures against New Zealand on 28 May and 3 June, followed by a hit-out against an Australian Barbarians side on 14 June.

The World Rugby U20 Championship represents the pinnacle of international age-group Rugby and is renowned for providing the game’s future stars with a platform to shine before reaching Test level.

At the most recent tournament in Argentina in 2019, the Junior Wallabies demonstrated the promise within the Australian development system, with the likes of Nick Frost, Noah Lolesio, Angus Bell, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Fraser McReight, Ben Donaldson and Lachlan Lonergan guiding the team to the Final.

Junior Wallabies Squad

Reds
Floyd Aubrey (GPS)
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips (Souths)
John Bryant (Souths)
Ben Daniels (Brothers)
Nick Bloomfield (Easts)
Harrison Usher (Bond)
Jarrod Homan (Easts)
Tim Ryan (Brothers)
Nick Baker (GPS)
Max Craig (Easts)

Rebels
Patrick Lavemai (Melbourne Harlequins)
Leafi Talataina (Endeavour Hills)
Mason Gordon (Wests Bulldogs)
David Vaihu (Wests Bulldogs)
Zac Hough (Wests Bulldogs)
Joey Fowler (Sydney Uni)

Brumbies
Liam Bowron (Royals)
Massimo De Lutiis (Wests)
Lachlan Hooper (Tuggeranong)
Klayton Thorn (Gungahlin)
Henry Palmer (Tuggeranong)
Austin Anderson (Wests)
Matias Jensen (Randwick)
Baden Godfrey (Tuggeranong)
Chris Mickelson (Uni-Norths)
Toby MacPherson (Uni-Norths)
Xavier Degai (Southern Districts)

Force
Marley Pearce (Joondalup Brothers)
Ned Slack-Smith (Palmyra)
Ryan McGloin (Joondalup Brothers)
Jhy Legg (Wests Scarborough)

Waratahs
Jack Barrett (Randwick)
Fritz Jahnke-Tavana (Eastwood)
Ollie McCrea (Eastern Suburbs)
Teddy Wilson (Eastern Suburbs)
Jack Bowen (Eastern Suburbs)
Henry O’Donnell (Northern Suburbs)
Charlie Worthington (Randwick)
Tom Morrison (Sydney Uni)
Jackson Ropata (Southern Districts)
Dan Nelson (Sydney Uni)

*Max Jorgensen, Tom Lynagh, Taj Annan, Daniel Maiava unavailable for selection due to Super Rugby Pacific club commitments, and Darby Lancaster unavailable due to AU Sevens commitments.

– Press Release/Rugby Australia