Brumbies props Allan Alaalatoa and Scott Sio will bookend the scrum with Tom Robertson and Sekope Kepu shifting to the bench.

Jack Maddocks will earn his first Test start when he runs out on the right wing with Melbourne Rebels fullback Dane Haylett-Petty to wear the number 15 jersey in the absence of Israel Folau (ankle).

Brumbies pair Folau Faingaa and Tom Banks are in line for their Wallabies debut after being named amongst the reserves, in what will be Michael Cheika’s 50^th Test as coach of Australia.

Australia haven’t tasted victory in New Zealand since August 2001, when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks 23-15 in Dunedin.

Wallabies side to play All Blacks

1. Scott Sio (46 Tests)

2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (83 Tests)

3. Allan Alaalatoa (24 Tests)

4. Izack Rodda (8 Tests)

5. Adam Coleman (24 Tests)

6. Lukhan Tui (8 Tests)

7. Michael Hooper (c) (83 Tests)

8. David Pocock (70 Tests)

9. Will Genia (91 Tests)

10. Bernard Foley (59 Tests)

11. Marika Koroibete (12 Tests)

12. Kurtley Beale (75 Tests)

13. Reece Hodge (28 Tests)

14. Jack Maddocks (1 Test)

15. Dane Haylett-Petty (22 Tests)

Finishers

16. Folau Faingaa*

17. Tom Robertson (22 Tests)

18. Sekope Kepu (95 Tests)

19. Rob Simmons (86 Tests)

20. Pete Samu (4 Tests)

21. Nick Phipps (65 Tests)

22. Matt Toomua (34 Tests)

23. Tom Banks*

*denotes uncapped

The post Cheika makes changes to Wallabies side chasing Bledisloe appeared first on Rugby News.

Reece Hodge will start at outside centre, while Tatafu Polota-Nau will make his Wallabies return in the No.2 jersey.

Matt Toomua has also been named to potentially make his Wallabies return after returning from the UK last month.

The selection of 21-year old Maddocks caps a remarkable few years for the outside back, who focussed his efforts on a budding cricket career rather than rugby during school.

Bledisloe Cup

Qantas Wallabies v New Zealand at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Saturday 18 August 7.45pm AEST

New Zealand v Qantas Wallabies at Eden Park, Auckland, Saturday 25 August 5.35pm AEST

New Zealand v Qantas Wallabies at Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Saturday 27 October 3.00pm local

Wallabies team to play New Zealand at ANZ Stadium, Sydney on Saturday 18 August, 7.45pm AEST

1. Tom Robertson (21 Tests)

2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (82 Tests)

3. Sekope Kepu (94 Tests)

4. Izack Rodda (7 Tests)

5. Adam Coleman (23 Tests)

6. Lukhan Tui (7 Tests)

7. Michael Hooper (c) (82 Tests)

8. David Pocock (69 Tests)

9. Will Genia (90 Tests)

10. Bernard Foley (58 Tests)

11. Marika Koroibete (11 Tests)

12. Kurtley Beale (74 Tests)

13. Reece Hodge (27 Tests)

14. Dane Haylett-Petty (21 Tests)

15. Israel Folau (65 Tests)

Finishers

16. Tolu Latu (7 Tests)

17. Allan Alaalatoa (23 Tests)

18. Taniela Tupou (4 Tests)

19. Rob Simmons (85 Tests)

20. Pete Samu (3 Tests)

21. Nick Phipps (64 Tests)

22. Matt Toomua (33 Tests)

23. Jack Maddocks*

*denotes uncapped

The post Jack Maddocks named in Wallabies side to play All Blacks appeared first on Rugby News.

It was late August, 1999.

I was six years old and my local rugby club had organised a bus to take a bunch of us into Homebush to watch the Wallabies take on the All Blacks in a Bledisloe Cup match at the newly opened Olympic Stadium.

Most of our Dads had started on the lemonades earlier in the afternoon and probably didn’t remember at this stage how many of their children came to the rugby that night.

But we didn’t care. It was like nothing any of us had ever experienced before.

107,000 fans packed into Stadium Australia and if we weren’t sitting in the last row, we were very, very close.

The atmosphere was incredible and shortly after the players entered the stadium and sung the national anthems, the Kiwis performed the Haka.

At that point, most of us kids would have gone home happy but it got even better.

As the Australian players removed their tracksuits, a tactic created by coach Rod Macqueen to calm the nerves of his players after the Haka, a strange looking man with a guitar walked onto the field.

He started singing Waltzing Matilda and 107,000 of us sung with him.

Even the All Black fans joined in. It was incredible, an experience I’ll never forget.

And for the record, the Wallabies went on and won that night 28-7.

I’ve largely suffered as an Australian rugby fan ever since, particularly around Bledisloe time, but the terminal disease is something I’ve learnt to live with.

It does make you wonder though.

At a time when Rugby Australia is desperate to create unity in our game, would it be worth looking back at what worked when we truly were the best in the world, on and off the field.

I can’t tell you anything about that game, almost 20 years later, but I’ll never forget the pre game experience.

And most rugby nations still have something similar.

I’m not going to reference the debate around the Haka at the moment, but clearly it hasn’t hurt the All Blacks performance or their fan experience.

The Irish crowds were nothing short of brilliant when they came out in June and rugby in the Northern Hemisphere certainly has worked out how to put on an event.

So why not give John Williamson a call and see if he’s busy on Saturday night?

It certainly won’t hurt.

Because 20 years later, despite all the pain, I still can’t wait for the Bledisloe Cup.

And I really hope some young Australia rugby fans get the same experience this weekend.

The post The Wallabies secret Bledisloe weapon we haven’t used in years appeared first on Rugby News.

With plenty of Wallabies and familiar names in the list, here’s a look at the 1994-2003 teams.

1994

Michael Abbott, Mark Bartholomeusz, Tom Bowman, Doug Bursill, Daniel Cronan, David Duley, Timothy Eaton, Manuel Edmonds, Elton Flatley, Damian Flynn, James Freeman, Terrence Gilsenan, Sean Hardman, Matthew Hill, Benjamin Hindmarsh, Jason Jones-Hughes, Simon Kasprowicz, Matthew Kennedy, Luke Mann, Ryan Maughan, James McCormack, Ben McKay, Beau Mulheran, Christopher Newton, Paul Parsons, Matthew Radford, Steven Roberson, Ryan Rogan, Nathan Ross, Stephen Sexton, Robert Shehadie, Keiran Shepherd, Marc Stcherbina.

1995

David Azar, Daniel Brown, Matthew Cook, Flint Davidson, Manuel Edmonds, Elton Flatley, Nathan Franks, Adam Gilchrist, Sam Hayes, Sam Henderson, Andrew Moloney, Cameron Northcott, Dominic O’Neil, Braden Osborne, Richard Sexton, Nathan Sharpe, Alan Sheldon, John Slater, Michael Smith, Scott Staniforth, David Walker.

1996

Philip Abbott, Edward Aila, John Aloua, Stephen Batia, Scott Blanchard, Mark Bullock, Dominic Byrne, Edward Carter, Blair Cheesman, Ryan Cross, Chris Daish, Harold Dakin, Matthew Dunning, Dirk Gardner, Lachlan Grant, Aaron Hardcastle, Michael Hefferan, Saia Latu, Michael Maclean, Tierney Muller, Timothy Noonan, Todd Ollivier, David Palavi, Tim Rapp, Paul Ross, Michael Slavica, Simon Stephens, Scott Taylor, Ben Tull, Timothy Walsh, Philip Waugh, Benjamin Williams, Brendan Williams.

1997

Phillip Abbott, Fovana Acanufa, William Ashton, Steve Batia, Hugh Brakell, Alister Campbell, Mark Chapman, Andrew Christie, Ryan Cross, Andrew Farley, Adam Freier, William Gordon, Sam Harris, Michael Hercus, Andrew Robert Hindmarsh, Steve Kefu, David Lyons, Adam Mitchell, Curtis Mohr, Cam Northcott, Marty O’Rourke, David Palavi, Phil Rogers, George Smith, Scott Stumbles, Dash Swift, Tui Talaia, Matthew Tooher, Rudi Vedelago, Ben Wakely, Phillip Waugh, Andrew Webb, Jonathan West, Craig Wing.

1998

Jonathan Ahlberg, Chris Comerford, Ryan Doherty, Tim Donnelly, Beau Dunley, Ashley Elphinston, Chris Fitzpatrick, Joshua Gamgee, Gareth Hardy, David Hebblewhite, Daniel Heenan, Gareth Jones, Fa’aleo Kefu, James Lakepa, David Lyons, Tere Makakea, Josh Mann-Rea, Anthony Mathison, Richard McCabe, Nathan Osbourne, John Payne, Junior Pelesasa, Peter Playford, Adrian Riches, Martin Schliebs, Paul Sheedy, George Smith, Graeme Smith, Nigel Staniforth, Michael Tabrett, Tui Talaia, Cameron Treloar, Paul Warwick.

1999

Warren Aitken, Daniel Butt, David Crawford, Kevin Dearlove, Luke Doherty, Edmond Donoghue, Syd Douglas, Richard Fogarty, Mark Gerrard, Daniel Heenan, Matthew Henjak, Mark James, Brock James, Nathan Johnson, Tim McCann, Ryan McDonald, Dustin McGregor, Jeremy Osborne, Daniel Raymond, Morgan Sigg, Guy Shepherdson, Elia Tuqiri, Morgan Turinui, Gray Viane.

2000

Will Caldwell, Dallas Carney, Andrew Chapman, Cooper Cronk, Brendan Delahunty, Luke Doherty, Syd Douglas, Rocky Elsom, Luke Foster, Mark Gerrard, Ben Hand, James Hilgendorf, Peter Hynes, Matthew Kearns, Lachlan Mackay, Anthony Ongolea, Ryan Perkins, Ian Potter, David Rimmer, Jone Tawaki, Lei Tomiki, Morgan Turinui, Josh Valentine, Gray Viane, Peter Waring.

2001

Fotu Auelua, Oli Avei, David Billsborrow, Rodney Blake, Richard Brown, Terry Campese, Tim Casey, Mitchell Chapman, Josh Clements, John Collignon, David Dillon, Josh Graham, Simon Hockings, Luke Holmes, Jonathan Hoy, Junior Hunt, Guy Kennedy, Chris Kennedy, Gordon Kome, Saul Lilomaiava, Chris Lyons, Kieran Massey, Kit Maulio, Hugh McMeniman, Drew Mitchell, David Muliaga, Rowen Pearce, Ian Potter, Alex Quinlivan, Jarrad Saffy, Christopher Siale, Joel Slater, Todd Sly, Tyrone Smith, Tim Stacey, Rex Tapuai, Lei Tomiki, Joe Tufuga, Josh Valentine, Rhys van Der Rijt, Henari Veratau.

2002

Reza Almasi, David Billsborrow, Ray Brown, Matthew Carraro, Martin Darby, David Eri, Daniel Halangahu, David Horton, Nicky Hunt, Digby Ioane, Lloyd Johannsen, Luke Johnson, Tim Kerr, Lachlan McCutcheon, Lachlan Morgan, Ben Mowen, Dean Mumm, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson, Julian Salvi, Sam Satui, Lupini Siale, Luke Tabutoa, Kepu Talanoa, Shane Udy.

2003

Geoff Abram, Liam Bibo, Leon Bott, Shaun Boyd, Matthew Brandon, Pekahou Cowan, Scott Daruda, David Dennis, Saia Faingaa, Dominic Fuller, Duncan Hardy, Digby Ioane, Lloyd Johannsen, Anton La Vin, Matthew Leonard, Tajhon Mailata, Tim O’Ryan, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Julian Salvi, Dylan Sigg, Richard Stanford, James Stonham, Andrew, Viliamu, Laurie Weeks, Daniel Wiseman.

The post Australian Schoolboys teams: 1994-2003 appeared first on Rugby News.

With plenty of Wallabies and familiar names in the list, here’s a look at the 1984-1993 teams.

1984

Stephen Antonelli, Andrew Blades, Josh Carmody, Jack Dempsey, Anthony Dempsey, Cameron Douglas, Anthony Grigson, Murray Harley, Tony Hayes, Paul Healy, Steven Hickey, Ian Humphris, Mark Malloy, Guy McLaren, Mark Patterson, David Ross, Andrew Rowntree, Ricky Stuart, Scott Taylor, Glen Taylor, Allan Warby, Jason Woodward.

1985

Robert Charles, Michael Crawford, Bruce Davies, David Dix, Michael Foley, Darren Free, Albert Fulavi, Matthew Furrer, Warwick Giddey, Scott Gourley, Craig Harley, Scott Harris, Matthew Hood, Paul Kahl, Robert Kennedy, Martin Lubrano, Mark Malloy, Andrew Momsen, Chris Newman, Scott O’Connell, Danny Offenberg, James Piper, Matthew Press, Matthew Ryan, Sam Scott Young, Phillip Shaw, Ricky Stuart, Richard Tombs, David Wilson.

1986

Mark Bell, Brad Bertwhistle, Andrew Cairns, Tom Cross, Graham Emmery, Tim Enright, Lance Federow, Michael Forsythe, Andrew Friend, Adam Friend, Albert Fulavi, Scott Gourley, Scott Kennedy, Andrew Kerec, Victor Kucharzewski, Geoff Logan, Justin McDonald, Lachlan Moffat, Scott O’Connell, Matthew Pini, Brett Plowman, Matthew Stocks, Anthony Woodward, Peter Yeates.

1987

David Basha, Brad Bertwhistle, Michael Brial, Tony Cavey, Geoff Clark, Charles Crighton, Andrew Friend, Aaron Gold, Anthony Hart, Anthony Hayes, Andrew Hickey, Tim Horan, Brett Johnstone, Michael Jorgensen, Darren Junee, Jason Kelly, Bill Kettle, Jason Little, Geoff Logan, Quentin Peihopa, Sean Stanley, Jason Weber.

1988

Hunter Beirne, Michael Brial, Damon Entage, Geoff Fenwicke, Aaron Gold, David Grimmond, Stuart Holt, Joseph Kennedy, Geoff Logan, Todd Louden, Adam Magro, Angus Miller, Garrick Morgan, Matthew O’Connor, Brock Parker, Quentin Peihopa, Nick Perkins, Jason Reilly, David Russell, Peter Ryan, Ves Soldo, Michael Towns, Dean Zammitt.

1989

Hunter Beirne, Scott Bligh, Marco Caputo, Mark Challender, Anthony Cregan, Andrew Grant, Adam Harley, Rodney Kafer, Michael Kasprowicz, Tim Kelaher, Stuart Lachlan, Barry Lea, Michael Miller, Andrew Obad, Kevin O’Kane, Glenn Panaho, Michael Pennisi, Craig Polla-Mounter, Anthony Scriven, John Stafford, James Swan, Tim Watkins, Dean Zammitt.

1990

Chris Blanchard, Scott Bowen, Matthew Burke, Todd Cole, Ryan Craig, Anthony Cregan, Andrew Crocker, Tim Eisenhauer, Justin Fielke, Salei (Fili) Finau, Nicholas Ghattas, Richard Graham, Travis Hall, Rodney Hayes, Graham Hislop, John Isaac, Troy Jaques, Peter Jorgensen, David Kelaher, Haydn Long, Ben May, Michael Misson, Rodney Moore, Thomas Morrison, Scott Murray, Stuart Pinkerton, Craig Polla-Mounter, Jacob Rauluni, Graeme Thompson, Micah Tuck, John Turner, Hugh Williams, Simon Wilson.

1991

Richard Ball, Matthew Collard, Brad Condon, Samson Fangaloka, Scott Fay, Paul Findlay, Simon Guilfoyle, Craig Howe, Stephen Jani, Gareth Jones, David Kelaher, Craig McMullen, Tom Morrison, Raoul Pohio, Matthew Pryke, Stephen Scahill, Tim Stoyles, Daniel Sullivan, Tu Tamaru, Graeme Thompson, Nathan Turner, Philip Tyler, Andrew Williams, Simon Wilson.

1992

Graeme Bond, Brad Condon, David Davies, Lawson Donald, Brett Foster, Matthew Hall, Nick Harvey, Glen Hauff, James Holbeck, Matthew Isaacs, Gareth Jones, Gavin Mansfield, Justin McGinty, Duncan McRae, Bernard Pollard, Anthony Prior, Joe Roff, Baden Stephenson, Nick Stiles, Daniel Sullivan, Tu Tamarua, Phillip Yuen.

1993

Jason Air, Grant Anderson, Tom Bowman, David Brailey, Douglas Bursill, Michael Choromanski, Matt Clowry, Andrew De Saxe, Cameron Fear, Michael Fordham, James Godfrey, Glen Hauff, John Hearn, Tony Jasser, Matthew Kennedy, Cameron Kenny, Luke Mann, Gavin Mansfield, Caeloen Murray, Liam O’Hara, Peter Parathyras, Ben Plenty, Simon Raiwalui, Marcus Riley, Mark Robinson, Joe Roff, Ryan Rogan, Matthew Rogers, Mark Stitch, Bill Solofa, Marc Stcherbina, Iain Thompson, Garry Torrens, Ben Tune, Brendan Underwoods, Scott Webster, Phillip Yuen.

The post Australian Schoolboys teams: 1984-1993 appeared first on Rugby News.

The post Match Highlights: Australia U20s v Japan U20s appeared first on Rugby News.

No two Wallabies players deserved to hear their names called last night more so than Brendon Paenga-Amosa and Tom Banks.

The pair were two of five uncapped players named in Michael Cheika’s 32-man squad to face Ireland in the upcoming June Test series, and they both earned their spot the hard way.

In the era of the “18-year old superstar”, Paenga-Amosa and Banks are rarities and both spent several years toiling away in club rugby before earning a Super Rugby contract and eventually a spot in Cheika’s squad.

Are they outliers?

Or are they products of club rugby and a development pathway that rewards players when they are actually ready to be rewarded?

Paenga Amosa came through Sydney’s public school system.

While he showed promise as a schoolboy, others were selected ahead of him and after finishing school and shifting from flanker to hooker, he joined local club Southern Districts and played colts.

This gave Paenga-Amosa time to grow and develop his game and within a year or two, he was starting at No.2 for the Rebels first grade side.

By late last year, he was arguably the most dangerous forward in the Shute Shield competition and led Souths on a nine match winning streak.

Following the 2017 club season, Paenga-Amosa joined the NSW Country Eagles NRC side and finally caught the attention of Super Rugby scouts.

At 22, he had a short stint in Melbourne with the Rebels before signing with the Reds late last year.

Immediately, he impressed Brad Thorn and on the back of his first full professional preseason, a bigger, stronger and more mature Paenga-Amosa started at hooker in the Reds opening Super Rugby clash this year and hasn’t looked back since.

Banks has a similar story.

He represented Queensland at schoolboy level, then joined UQ after finishing school and spent three years playing Premier Colts then Grade in Brisbane.

By 2016, Banks was near untouchable at club level and although he had spend time in the Reds wider training squad and made his debut a year earlier, he was picked up by the Brumbies ahead of the 2017 season.

By now, most people have seen Banks’ highlights from the weekend, so enough said.

Not only do both journeys highlight the importance and value of playing competitive club rugby at a young age, but it also proves something that seems blatantly obvious to most.

The majority of players are not ready to play Super Rugby when they are 19.

So why do our Super Rugby clubs keep signing kids out of school?

The typical cycle goes something like this.

A promising schoolboy links with an agent before they turn 18. If they play Australian Schoolboys, the agent shops his new product around to the Super Rugby clubs and threatens to take his player to league if he isn’t signed.

So the 18-year old is offered a training or supplementary contract by a Super Rugby club and everything seems rosy.

Problem is, when their one or two year deal finishes, the 20 or 21 year old “professional” rugby player now needs another contract.

Unless they’ve played their way into a Super Rugby starting side, they’re more often than not replaced by a carbon copy of themselves, who just happens to be a year or two younger.

And those that are thrown into the Super Rugby shark tank just months after growing chest hair, typically struggle.

So their contract isn’t renewed and they head overseas.

A state or national academy can fix a lot of these issues and from all reports, there is plenty of work underway behind the scenes to make that a reality.

But I think a change in mentality, on both fronts, is also important.

A lot has changed since the days when you could watch 10 Wallabies play in a Shute Shield match at Coogee Oval on a Saturday afternoon.

But Australian rugby wasn’t exactly struggling back then either.

Our Super Rugby clubs need to stop searching for the next big thing and give players time to develop.

Jake McIntyre in Brisbane and Dave Horwitz in Sydney are the two best examples of that. Both players are incredibly talented and hopefully still have a big future in Australian rugby.

But after signing professional contracts straight out of school, they’ve both left to play overseas not long after their 23rd birthdays.

Our young players also need to realise that they won’t play their best rugby until they are at least 24 or 25 and that patience might be the most vital tool they’ll use in their Australian rugby career.

Again, an academy can fill a void here and hopefully that will come soon.

But with Paenga-Amosa and Banks comes hope.

And if the strength of the Shute Shield and Premier Rugby competitions this year is anything to go by, there could be a few others that follow in their footsteps.

The post Two new Wallabies benefited from club rugby development appeared first on Rugby News.

No two Wallabies players deserved to hear their names called last night more so than Brendon Paenga-Amosa and Tom Banks.

The pair were two of five uncapped players named in Michael Cheika’s 32-man squad to face Ireland in the upcoming June Test series, and they both earned their spot the hard way.

In the era of the “18-year old superstar”, Paenga-Amosa and Banks are rarities and both spent several years toiling away in club rugby before earning a Super Rugby contract and eventually a spot in Cheika’s squad.

Are they outliers?

Or are they products of club rugby and a development pathway that rewards players when they are actually ready to be rewarded?

Paenga Amosa came through Sydney’s public school system.

While he showed promise as a schoolboy, others were selected ahead of him and after finishing school and shifting from flanker to hooker, he joined local club Southern Districts and played colts.

This gave Paenga-Amosa time to grow and develop his game and within a year or two, he was starting at No.2 for the Rebels first grade side.

By late last year, he was arguably the most dangerous forward in the Shute Shield competition and led Souths on a nine match winning streak.

Following the 2017 club season, Paenga-Amosa joined the NSW Country Eagles NRC side and finally caught the attention of Super Rugby scouts.

At 22, he had a short stint in Melbourne with the Rebels before signing with the Reds late last year.

Immediately, he impressed Brad Thorn and on the back of his first full professional preseason, a bigger, stronger and more mature Paenga-Amosa started at hooker in the Reds opening Super Rugby clash this year and hasn’t looked back since.

Banks has a similar story.

He represented Queensland at schoolboy level, then joined UQ after finishing school and spent three years playing Premier Colts then Grade in Brisbane.

By 2016, Banks was near untouchable at club level and although he had spend time in the Reds wider training squad and made his debut a year earlier, he was picked up by the Brumbies ahead of the 2017 season.

By now, most people have seen Banks’ highlights from the weekend, so enough said.

Not only do both journeys highlight the importance and value of playing competitive club rugby at a young age, but it also proves something that seems blatantly obvious to most.

The majority of players are not ready to play Super Rugby when they are 19.

So why do our Super Rugby clubs keep signing kids out of school?

The typical cycle goes something like this.

A promising schoolboy links with an agent before they turn 18. If they play Australian Schoolboys, the agent shops his new product around to the Super Rugby clubs and threatens to take his player to league if he isn’t signed.

So the 18-year old is offered a training or supplementary contract by a Super Rugby club and everything seems rosy.

Problem is, when their one or two year deal finishes, the 20 or 21 year old “professional” rugby player now needs another contract.

Unless they’ve played their way into a Super Rugby starting side, they’re more often than not replaced by a carbon copy of themselves, who just happens to be a year or two younger.

And those that are thrown into the Super Rugby shark tank just months after growing chest hair, typically struggle.

So their contract isn’t renewed and they head overseas.

A state or national academy can fix a lot of these issues and from all reports, there is plenty of work underway behind the scenes to make that a reality.

But I think a change in mentality, on both fronts, is also important.

A lot has changed since the days when you could watch 10 Wallabies play in a Shute Shield match at Coogee Oval on a Saturday afternoon.

But Australian rugby wasn’t exactly struggling back then either.

Our Super Rugby clubs need to stop searching for the next big thing and give players time to develop.

Jake McIntyre in Brisbane and Dave Horwitz in Sydney are the two best examples of that. Both players are incredibly talented and hopefully still have a big future in Australian rugby.

But after signing professional contracts straight out of school, they’ve both left to play overseas not long after their 23rd birthdays.

Our young players also need to realise that they won’t play their best rugby until they are at least 24 or 25 and that patience might be the most vital tool they’ll use in their Australian rugby career.

Again, an academy can fill a void here and hopefully that will come soon.

But with Paenga-Amosa and Banks comes hope.

And if the strength of the Shute Shield and Premier Rugby competitions this year is anything to go by, there could be a few others that follow in their footsteps.

The post Two new Wallabies benefited from club rugby development appeared first on Rugby News.

The post Match Highlights: Australia U20s v Wales U20s appeared first on Rugby News.

The Junior Wallabies side to play Wales U20s in the opening clash of the World Rugby U20s Championship has been named with Ryan Lonergan to captain the side in the match on Thursday morning (Sydney time).

Head Coach Jason Gilmore has made four changes to the side that faced New Zealand in the Oceania Rugby U20s Championship with Melbourne Rebels squad member, Semisi Tupou to play his first game in Junior Wallabies colours for 2018.

“We’ve had a good preparation in the lead up to this match and the lads are looking forward to starting the World Championship,” Australian coach Jason Gilmore said.

“Wales are a very tough side and we know that they have some big bodies and will use the set piece really well, so we will need to front up to the challenge.”

On the bench Australia will be supported by Queensland Reds scrumhalf, Tate McDermott and recent NSW Waratahs signing, Will Harrison.

The match kicks off at 5am on Thursday 31 May and will be broadcast LIVE on FOX SPORTS.

2018 World Rugby U20s Championship Pool A Fixtures*:
Thursday 31 May
Australia v Wales, 5.00am AEST, Stade de la Mediterranee, Bézier
Sunday 3 June
Australia v Japan, 10.00pm AEST, Stade de la Mediterranee, Bézier
Friday 8 June
Australia v New Zealand, 5.00am AEST, Stade Aime-Giral, Perpignan
*Dates and times have been named as AEST

The post Junior Wallabies side named for U20s World Cup opener appeared first on Rugby News.