Two named in Australian squad

Graham Croker

Sydney University Football Club’s Eddie Bredenhann and Tom Kingston have been named in the Australian Under 20 squad to compete at the 12-nation Junior World Championship rugby tournament in Italy in June.

Halfback Bredenhann and winger Kingston, who recently made his Super 15 debut for NSW Waratahs, are among seven NSW players in the 26-man squad, which also includes 11 Queenslanders, six from the ACT, and one each from Victoria and Western Australia.

The squad features 11 players – including Bredenhann – who will return for a second tilt at the Junior World Championship title, keen to reverse the disappointment of finishing runners-up to three-time champions New Zealand in Argentina last year. SUFC was represented by second-rower Luke Jones, hooker Sam Roberson and winger Greg Jeloudev at the 2010 championships.

New Zealand has won all three titles and not dropped a match since the JWC replaced the IRB’s former age-grade championships in Under 19 and Under 21 categories in 2008.

Head coach David Nucifora said that after reaching an agreement with the franchises last year, he has included seven players in his squad who boast Super Rugby experience.

“Last year when the new Super Rugby format was set, and being a Rugby World Cup year, we realised there was going to be a clash with the Super Rugby and the Junior World Championship,” Nucifora said.

“With the knowledge of the number of contracted players who were going to still be eligible for this team, a solution was sought back then and an agreement was reached to create a threshold number of games to determine eligibility.”

In the past three years, 26 Australian Under 20 representatives have gone on to earn Super Rugby contracts, and from that group, 13 have gone on to represent the  Wallabies.

The 2011 team departs for Italy on May 29 and the Junior Wallabies will set up camp at the AIS in Varese before basing themselves in Padova on June 6. Australia has been drawn alongside Fiji, France and Tonga in Pool B for the June 10-26 tournament.

Meanwhile, SUFC’s Bernard Foley has retained the captaincy of the Australian Sevens team for the next round of the World Series, to be played in London and Edinburgh on May 21-22.

The 12-man squad, which departed for the UK today, includes: Bernard Foley (capt), Ed Jenkins, (SUFC vice-captain), Hamish Angus, Lewis Holland, Zack Holmes, Greg Jeloudev (SUFC), Jono Lance, Jesse Parahi, Brian Sefanaia, Jacob Taylor, Henry Vanderglas and Dan Yakopo.