NSW Rugby have restructured their under 18s development pathway in the hope of keeping players from different walks of life playing rugby.

This Sunday, former Waratah and Sevens Olympian Pat McCutcheon will be out scouting for future Waratahs as the 2018 Sydney U18 Rep Trials kick off.

The Sydney U18s Rep Pathway is open to all U18s club rugby players in 2018 SJRU, premiership or subbies competitions, whether they’re at school, an apprentice, TAFE student or in the workforce.

“It’s an alternative and inclusive pathway stream, that sits outside the Schools Associations,” explains McCutcheon who is the Elite Youth Manager at NSW Waratahs.

“I’ll be out there watching every trial game, and I’m looking for future Gen Blue players.”

McCutcheon hopes the expansion of the NSWJRU U18s program will keep more talented kids in rugby union.

“I see talent everywhere I go, and the best footballers are always being tugged in different directions to play different codes.

“The Sydney U18s Rep team gives young fellas another pathway stream to reach rep footy, so they have a motivation to stay in the game.

“It will also make rep footy more accessible to players who might not have felt it was easy for them to get involved in, so I hope we see some increase in participation at that level.”

The Sydney U18s Rep team will play feature matches against NSW Country and Schools Association teams, which will act as selection trials for the NSWJRU U18s team. This NSWJRU U18s team will then compete at the Division 2 National Championships on the Gold Coast in early July.

McCutcheon says the expanded pathway is an important step forward for U18s rugby in NSW, and is full of praise for the NSW Juniors team who made it happen.

“It’s great that this initiative has got off the ground,” he says.

“The President of NSW Juniors, Ben Gregory, has been working tirelessly on this.

“Ben and those working with and around him have done an amazing job to get to this point.”

NSW Juniors will continue to expand their teenage rugby pathways later this year with the selection of a barbarians-style U16 NSWJRU Presidents XV, which will play NSW Country U16s in Tamworth.

Sunday’s trial begins at 4pm at Blackman Park, Lane Cove. Visit www.nswjuniors.com.au for more information.