Five Sydney University Football Club (SUFC) representatives have been selected in a 28-man Australian Under-20 squad which has assembled at the Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen, as part of the final preparations for the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa in June.
Four of the five SUFC players selected by coaches Anthony Eddy and David Nucifora are Sydney University Elite Athlete Program representatives – Jock Merriman (B. Agricultural Economics), Benn Melrose (Bachelor of Law and Commerce), James Dargaville (Civil Engineering) and Sam Jeffries (Bachelor of Construction Management).
Silatolu Latu is the fifth and final SUFC representative.
The Australian Under 20s will look to improve on last year’s performance at the IRB Junior World Championship, where they finished third following a 37-7 loss to New Zealand in the semi-final, before beating France 30-17 in the third-fourth playoff game.
The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship sees Australia’s Under 20s as the top seed of Pool C, taking on France, Argentina and Scotland.
Pool A features New Zealand, Fiji, Wales and Samoa while Pool B contains England, South Africa, Ireland and Italy.
In its brief history since changing from the Australian Under-19 and Under-21 programs, the Australian Under-20 side has nurtured the talent of a number of current Qantas Wallabies and FxPro Super Rugby players including, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, David Pocock, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Rob Horne and Kurtley Beale.
To view the Under 20s Media Guide, including Player and Coaches Profiles click here.
Fox Sports will broadcast all Australian Under-20 matches along with a selection of other matches from the IRB Junior World Championship. More details around broadcast times and channels will be made available closer to the tournament.
