Junior Wallabies coach Jason Gilmore is confident Australia’s revamped under 20s program will produce better results at the U20s World Cup this year and in the years to come.

Gilmore’s 55-man training squad have already participated in three five day camps, with one more to come ahead of April’s Oceania U20s Championship.

Previously, Australian side’s have had limited preparation for the annual under 20s World Cup and haven’t made the semi finals since 2011.

“The reality is it’s a really tight competition and if you drop one game, then you’re out of the top four,” Gilmore said.

“I think the competition is a lot different to 10 years ago when Southern Hemisphere teams would just roll through to the semi finals. With the Six Nations U20s, those European nations are a lot stronger and much better prepared.”

However the former QLD Country NRC coach admitted his side needed to break through into the competition’s top four.

“That’s what you play for, to contest big games at the end of competitions and if you’re not aiming to do that, then you’re the wrong person for the job. Australians generally have high expectations of their sporting sides and we need to live up to that.

“If we keep working hard, I think we’ve been progressing really well and although there is still a lot of hard work that needs to be done before France, I think we’ll give the competition a good shake.”

Wallabies coaches Michael Cheika, Stephen Larkham, Nathan Gray, Mick Byrne and consultant Rod Kafer have all worked with the squad during the first three camps and Gilmore said he’s been impressed with what he has ween so far.

“I think we’ve got a few key guys returning from last year. Rob Valentini, Hamish Stewart, Harry Hockings. You need your best players at these type of tournaments and we’ve got a lot of experience in key positions, plus we’re building some good depth around them,” Gilmore said.

“If boys are starting for their Super Rugby clubs, well then it’s a very high level that they’re playing at and you wouldn’t look to shift them out of that but if they’re not getting a lot of game time, then it’s probably best that they get some playing minutes with the Australian U20s.”

Before Australia leave for France in mid May, they’ll face New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji in the Oceania U20s championship, a warm up tournament on the Gold Coast.

Gilmore said those matches would be crucial for the side’s preparation and added that it was important for young Australian rugby players to not only compete against New Zealand sides, but to beat them.

“I think that starts at Australian Schoolboys, into the U20s and into Super Rugby. That winning mentality becomes a habit and unfortunately for Australian rugby, we haven’t had that for the last few years against the New Zealand sides.

“Having said that, if you look at the results our teams haven’t been too far off but I think it’s a very important year for Australian rugby to show what we can do against the Kiwis at all levels.”

Australia will play Wales, Japan and New Zealand in the Pool stages of the U20s World Cup, which begins in France on May 31.