SA u20 for 2018 still in the wilderness

An initial South Africa under-20 training squad for the World Rugby u20 Championships has been organised and players have been invited to attend. However it seems like this information in not for the general public’s consumption for some or other mysterious reason. Every Bok supporter is crying out for SA rugby to get their act together, work harder, get more efficient, get more professional but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. Winning the u20 Championships is an achievable objective for SARU, however the Baby Boks preparations for the event have been a bit of a joke over the past few years. It needs to get a lot more focussed if SA is to pose a more serious challenge for the title and it all begins with the people involved in the process adopting a far more professional approach.

Anyways…

World Rugby has announced that France will host the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2018 with matches being played in Béziers, Perpignan and Narbonne.

The five match days will take place on 30 May, 3 June, 7 June, 12 June and 17 June 2018.

The tournament features three pools of four teams, with the pool winners and the best runner-up progressing to the semi-finals.

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Wales and Japan
Pool B: England, Scotland, Italy and Argentina
Pool C: South Africa, France, Ireland and Georgia

Reigning champs New Zealand have already held a December 2017 training camp for 52 hopefuls as a first step towards defending that title.

NEW ZEALAND TRAINING CAMP PLAYERS

	Forwards			Backs
1	John Akau’ola-Laula	Auckland	1	Wiseguy Faiane	Auckland
2	Sione Asi	Manawatu	2	Leicester Faingaanuku	Tasman
3	Suetena Asomua	Counties Manukau	3	Scott Gregory	Northland
4	Tom Christie	Canterbury	4	Jack Grooby	Tasman
5	Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta	Tasman	5	Ciarahn Matoe	Taranaki
6	Rob Cobb	Auckland	6	Rupena Parkinson	Tasman
7	Jacob Devery	Hawkes Bay	7	Harry Plummer	Auckland
8	Sosaia Fale	Waikato	8	Rameka Poihipi	Canterbury
9	Tim Farrell	Hawkes Bay	9	Carlos Price	Wellington
10	Devan Flanders	Hawkes Bay	10	Billy Proctor	Wellington
11	Tom Florence	Taranaki	11	Ngane Punivai	Canterbury
12	Brayden Iose	Manawatu	12	Jay Renton	Southland
13	Ricky Jackson	Otago	13	Xavier Roe	Waikato
14	Joe Johnson	Bay of Plenty	14	Jamie Spowart	Tasman
15	Josh Kaho	Waikato	15	Bailyn Sullivan	Waikato
16	Tevita Mafileo	Bay of Plenty	16	Tanielu Tele’a	Auckland
17	Slade McDowall	Otago	17	Danny Toala	Hawkes Bay
18	Laghlan McWhannell	Waikato	18	Salyn Tonu’u	North Harbour
19	Sam Moli	Tasman	19	Sheldon Tovio	Waikato
20	Ajay Mua	Bay of Plenty	20	Kaleb Trask	Bay of Plenty
21	Xavier Numia	Wellington
22	Waimana Reidlinger-Kapa	Auckland
23	Ben Sa’u	Auckland
24	Bradley Slater	Taranaki
25	Hoskins Sotutu	Auckland
26	Cameron Suafoa	Auckland
27	Sione Talitui	Auckland
28	Flynn Thomas	Southland
29	Will Tucker	Canterbury
30	Kaliopasi Uluilakepa	Wellington
31	Tupou Va’ai	Taranaki
32	Ricky Van Der Heyden	Bay of Plenty

Not considered due to Super Rugby or Sevens commitments: Caleb Clarke (Auckland), Will Jordan (Tasman), Vilimoni Koroi (Otago). Not considered due to injury: Will Tremain (Hawke’s Bay), Raymond Nu’u (Canterbury).

Meanwhile North of the Equator strong u20 title contenders England along with the other North Hemisphere heavyweights gear up for their very meaningful u20 6 Nations Championship: 5 test match conditions games over 2 months beginning in February that will go a long way to preparing them for the World Rugby tournament starting in June. It wasn’t too difficult to find their 32-man elite squad online either.

England U20 EPS 2017/18

Forwards: Josh Basham (London Irish), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Beck Cutting (Worcester Warriors), Ben Earl (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors), Dino Lamb (Harlequins), Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers), Sam Moore (Sale Sharks), Joe Morris (Worcester Warriors), Gabriel Oghre (Wasps), James Scott (Worcester Warriors), Alex Seville (Gloucester), Marcus Street (Exeter Chiefs), Toby Trinder (Northampton Saints), Henry Walker (Gloucester), Tom Willis (Wasps)

Backs: Rory Brand (London Irish), Will Butler (Worcester Warriors), Aaron Chapman (Bristol), Ali Crossdale (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), James Grayson (Northampton Saints), Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers), Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins), Ben Loader (London Irish), Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers), Tom Parton (London Irish), Tom Seabrook (Gloucester), Joe Snow (Exeter Chiefs), Ben White (Leicester Tigers), Matt Williams (London Irish)