A change in school holiday dates has forced Rugby Australia to revamp their U18s program this year and will give Australia’s U18s side the best possible chance to beat New Zealand later this year, according to Waratahs U18s mentor Andrew Cleverley. 

NSW U18s defeated QLD U18s 54-14 at Concord Oval on Saturday to claim a 2-0 series victory over the young Reds, with Cleverley impressed with the stand

“Usually these guys don’t get to play any representative rugby until much later in the season so it was great to get them training and then competing at a really high level,” Cleverley told Rugby News.  

“There were a few good examples of their growth over this program. In week one, we scored a good try off a driving maul near their line.

“Our No.7 peeled off and popped the ball to the No.6 to score. A week later, the boys figured the Reds would attack the No.6 if we tried the same thing again, so this time the No.7 dummied and scored himself.  

“It’s great to see the guys understand the game of chess that is rugby. It’s not checkers, like rugby league, there’s a lot more to it and it was great to watch the boys execute under pressure against strong opposition.”

With the junior rugby league representative season run in this window each year, the early season matches helped Cleverley and the Waratahs development staff keep the best rugby talent in the XV-man code over summer. 

Cleverley used Toby Brial as an example. Brial represented the Australian U18s last year as an underage player, but in the past, wouldn’t have played another representative match until June or July the following season. 

“Kids these days just want to play, which is great. But to really build muscle, or to change someone’s body type, you’ve got to have a training block and work really hard over a longer period of time. 

“Even the big kids, as big as they are, still aren’t the size of the 115kg backrowers running around in Super Rugby.  

“To get the guys to that next level, we need them training all year round and matches like this are a good way to keep the guys engaged and excited to be playing rugby.”

In the coming weeks, U18 Academy sides from the ACT, Victoria and Western Australia will play similar matches to their NSW and QLD counterparts before an initial Australian U18 PONI squad will be selected. 

The first PONI, or Players Of National Interest, squad will be named in late March. 

Additions to the PONI squad will be made in July following club and school rugby fixtures and the U18 representative program.  

A third update will be picked in early September at the end of the club and rugby school seasons, before a final 26-man squad will be named in late September to face New Zealand U18s in October. 

“Every kid playing in the under 18 pathways this year has a chance to play their way into the PONI squad. We’ll have coaches watching at a Waratahs level and from a Rugby Australia level at all competitions,” Cleverley explained. 

“I was out at the CHS U18s trials in Sydney’s South West last week and there was some fantastic talent on show. We spoke to the boys about the opportunity and pathways available and they sounded really excited by the chance to play for the Australian U18s.”

At the final PONI camp in September a Green v Gold match will help selectors finalise the final Australian U18s squad.  

“By that stage, we would have watched all of those kids play quite a bit of rugby. The best of the best will then be picked in the final PONI squad and after a few days of training, they’ll go at it for a spot in the final 26-man squad to travel and play against New Zealand. 

“By doing it this way, we give all the players time to impress and it helps the coaches pick the right players who are in form and fit in September to then play New Zealand in October. 

“It’s a far better system then picking a squad in July and potentially missing out on a whole heap of kids.”