Six Melbourne Rebels have been named in the 41-man Junior Wallabies squad as preparations build for the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 in South Africa.
Patrick Lavemai, (Harlequins), Leafi Talataina (Endeavour Hills), Mason Gordon (Wests Bulldogs), David Vaihu (Wests Bulldogs), Zac Hough (Wests Bulldogs) and Joey Fowler (Sydney Uni) have all been selected, while Daniel Maiava was unavailable for selection due to Super Rugby Pacific match commitments.
The squad of 41 will attend a ten-day training camp with head coach Nathan Grey at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from Sunday 23 April. The Junior Wallabies are drawn to face Fiji, Ireland and England in the pool stage of the Championship, which kicks off on 24 June.
"With club seasons kicking off over the last few weeks, it's been great to see the players performing well and putting their hands up for selection," Grey said.
"This camp is an important stepping stone in the team's development, where we'll build on the work done at our first camp in February.
"The excitement is definitely growing as we look ahead to our three warm-up games and beyond that, challenging for the title in South Africa."
"This represents the start of a journey for these young men in our Golden decade with many of the names we read today having the opportunity to be read out when we announce our 2027 RWC squad.
"I am excited that our next generation now have the opportunity to compete internationally again and having had the chance to see them in training over the past weeks I look forward to these next games."
Junior Wallabies Squad
Rebels
Patrick Lavemai (Melbourne Harlequins)
Leafi Talataina (Endeavour Hills)
Mason Gordon (Wests Bulldogs)
David Vaihu (Wests Bulldogs)
Zac Hough (Wests Bulldogs)
Joey Fowler (Sydney Uni)
Reds
Floyd Aubrey (GPS)
Harry McLaughlin-Phillips (Souths)
John Bryant (Souths)
Ben Daniels (Brothers)
Nick Bloomfield (Easts)
Harrison Usher (Bond)
Jarrod Homan (Easts)
Tim Ryan (Brothers)
Nick Baker (GPS)
Max Craig (Easts)
Brumbies
Liam Bowron (Royals)
Massimo De Lutiis (Wests)
Lachlan Hooper (Tuggeranong)
Klayton Thorn (Gungahlin)
Henry Palmer (Tuggeranong)
Austin Anderson (Wests)
Matias Jensen (Randwick)
Baden Godfrey (Tuggeranong)
Chris Mickelson (Uni-Norths)
Toby MacPherson (Uni-Norths)
Xavier Degai (Southern Districts)
Force
Marley Pearce (Joondalup Brothers)
Ned Slack-Smith (Palmyra)
Ryan McGloin (Joondalup Brothers)
Jhy Legg (Wests Scarborough)
Waratahs
Jack Barrett (Randwick)
Fritz Jahnke-Tavana (Eastwood)
Ollie McCrea (Eastern Suburbs)
Teddy Wilson (Eastern Suburbs)
Jack Bowen (Eastern Suburbs)
Henry O'Donnell (Northern Suburbs)
Charlie Worthington (Randwick)
Tom Morrison (Sydney Uni)
Jackson Ropata (Southern Districts)
Dan Nelson (Sydney Uni)
*Max Jorgensen, Tom Lynagh, Taj Annan, Daniel Maiava unavailable for selection due to Super Rugby Pacific club commitments, and Darby Lancaster unavailable due to AU Sevens commitments.
