Sydney University Football Club Australian Under 20 representatives Harry Johnson-Holmes and Lachlan Swinton came off the bench in Australia’s 24-17 loss to Scotland for fifth place at the World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday.
Prop Johnson-Holmes is a product of Merewether High School in Newcastle, while second-rower Swinton is a product of Knox Grammar School in Sydney.
They were part of the 28-man Australian squad competing at the Under 20 Rugby World Cup in Tbilisi and Kutaisi from May 31 to June 18 against teams from Ireland, New Zealand, Wales, England, Italy, Scotland, Argentina, France, Samoa and South Africa.
Australia was drawn in Pool A with England, Wales and Samoa.
Australia led the play-off for fifth and sixth at the halftime break, but missed opportunities and handling errors allowed Scotland to break the game open and come from behind to claim victory.
A controversial late try by Scotland proved to be the decisive moment when scores were level at 17-17, allowing Charlie Shiel to dive under the posts and break the deadlock.
As with the Wallabies, a hemisphere away, basic handling, passing and kicking mistakes and poor options proved their downfall during the tournament.
Johnson-Holmes and Swinton also came off the bench in Australia’s tantalising 78th minute 20-19 semi-final loss to England, which relegated them to a fifth-placed play-off with Italy, which they won 42-19.
In their pool matches, Australia defeated Wales 24-17 and Samoa 33-26 before going down to England 20-19.
New Zealand won the 2017 Under 20 World Cup with a 64-17 win over England played at Tbilisi.
