Australian rugby will take a big step forward when the first National Under 20 Competition starts in Canberra on Saturday 22nd March. Three Australian teams: NSW, Queensland and a Southern States side, will play games against each other and an invited nation, Tonga.
The players will want to rack up the wins for their teams, but from a national perspective the important thing is to find out which of the young men can perform under pressure in big matches.
Green and Gold Rugby asked the Head Coach of the Australian Under 20s team, Adrian Thompson, a few things about his early coaching career and the exciting 2014 selection process.
You had a modest career as a player but I believe that you had your first coaching gig as a player-coach?
Modest is probably being kind – I wasn’t great. Played Queensland U18s and a bit of Colts 1, and that was about it. My first coaching gig was GPS 3rd Grade as captain-coach.
And later you had other coaching positions in Brisbane?
My first full-time role was at Easts in Brisbane in 1999 and 2000. We won the premiership in 1999. The team included Richard Graham and Tony McGahan.
Then the Reds gave you a call?
I was assistant coach for three years from 2002 to 2004 under three different Head Coaches (McBain, Slack and Miller); so I got to see plenty of different coaching styles and methods.
You were recruited by the ARU for the Australia A coaching job – how was that?
Eddie Jones was coaching the Wallabies in my first year as an assistant at the Reds and he offered me the chance to do Australia A. We beat France A in two tests in 2002 and then toured Japan in 2003 where we beat the Japanese team in two games. It was a very enjoyable experience.
Then you went to Japan to be Head Coach at Kyuden Voltex. It must have been a challenge and a thrill to get a bunch of no-names into the Top League of the Japan competition.
It was fantastic. It was just me and one foreign player to start with but they let me build things how I wanted and we ended up going pretty well. I remember my first training session – there was me and 56 players.
One of your coaching proteges at Kyuden, Nathan Grey, talks highly of you: he’s tracking well as a coach now.
I learned a lot from working with Greysie. His passion and desire to succeed at Kyuden was amazing. It would have been easy for him to cruise along over there but he gave his heart and soul for six years as a player and a coach.
He will be an outstanding Head Coach one day. Working with the Rebels, and now with Cheika, will certainly develop him further. Sean Hedger also coached with me at Kyuden and he is now at the Rebels.
You have a good reputation for empathising and connecting with your players. This must have been particularly helpful with youngsters at the National Academy when that started up, and as the Australia Under 20 Head Coach last year.
That is a nice thing to say. I do make an effort to see as much as I can from their point of view. Interesting thing about the 20s is the differing pressures on each of them. Some are already professional, some hope to be and some can’t even believe they are there. I think I will learn from that this year in how I manage them.
Who is going to be in your coaching group this year?
Shane Arnold from GPS in Brisbane is attack coach and Cam Blades from Southern Districts in Sydney will be set piece coach. We also have Alan Gaffney on board as a selector and as someone to bounce ideas off.
What are the differences between the selection process of the Australia Under 20s this year and last?
This year we are relying on the National Championships to produce most of our players. In previous years it has been selection camps based on nominations and word of mouth.
To see them in match conditions is great. I’ve also taken a keen interest in the Pacific Rugby Cup where many of the potential players are getting some time.
Did the Southern States tournament in Adelaide meet your expectations – anything you will do differently in the future?
It exceeded them to be honest. The SARU ran a great show. The standard was quite high and the Southern States team we have put together will be outstanding. Victoria, ACT and WA could compete as stand-alone teams in the future, I think.
You chose 2013 schoolboy Fereti Sa’aga from Victoria as your player of the Southern States tournament. Did anybody else shine who was not in France last year?
There were a few standouts. Openside flanker Rowan Perry from the ACT was outstanding and was just pipped for the player of the tournament. The reality is most of the players we selected in the Southern States team played well. The key for them will to perform in Canberra
Whilst the Southern States players have had a tournament already, the Queensland and NSW players have been busy haven’t they?
Yes, they have trained since October. NSW will have had five trial games and Queensland, three. We organised for them to play in the Pacific Rugby Cup, against the Fiji Warriors and Junior Japan, respectively, in Brisbane last Friday.
The National Under 20 Competition, and the preparation for it, improves the selection and training process this year, but it’s not an even playing field when you compare it with the Six Nations Under 20s, an entirely international tournament, is it?
No, it isn’t, and we are working on improving the match program for our guys moving forward.
There is no doubt that the Northern Hemisphere teams have overtaken us and NZ and South Africa in the last two years. South Africa are playing Argentina in a three test series in May. We approached New Zealand but they were not interested.
I would like to work towards a four-nation tournament with those countries. I think it is about more than just our U20s as well. It would be a great development tool beyond that.
What kind of players are you looking for in Canberra?
Guys who can help their team to win the championship. I think there is always a danger that players try to impress too much. They just need to focus on their team doing well and the selections will look after themselves. We also want players who can back up in a short space of time, just as they will have to do in the Junior World Cup.
The selectors also live in at the AIS with the teams; so we are looking at their off-field ethic as well.
What is the programme for the selected Australia Under 20 players before they leave for NZ?
From April 22—May 4, there is a training camp at Bond University. We are trying to arrange games against Fiji and Samoa but they are not confirmed yet.
From May 20—29, there is a second training camp at Narrabeen. Two warm-up games have been arranged:
– May 24 v. NSW Country Cockatoos (Chatswood Oval 5.30pm)
– May 27 v. Australian Barbarians (Chatswood Oval 6.30pm)
Comparison with 2013
In 2013 players were invited to camps without being tested against other candidates first.
In 2014 NSW and Queensland players had to prove themselves in selection trials to earn the right to compete in the nationals. Southern States players got chosen from an actual tournament. The five months of training for these games developed the players to the best they can be at this stage of their rugby life.
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In 2013 there was no national tournament.
In 2014 the best Under 20 players in Australia will have to prove themselves at a higher level than their selection matches, in competition against their rivals, for the honour of playing for their country.
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In 2013 the Australia Under 20 team played Papua New Guinea five weeks before it had is first Junior World Cup game in France.
In 2014 the national team will have warm-up matches that are more meaningful, including the last one six days before its opening game in New Zealand.
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That’s a palpably improved training, development and selection process for 2014 compared to 2013. Well done ARU.
All this will not guarantee that the Australian Under 20 team will get better results in the IRB Junior World Cup in New Zealand in 2014 than they have had in the last two years, but it will give them every chance to do so.
National Under 20 Competition fixtures — All matches at Viking Park, Wannissa ACT.
Links
2014 IRB Junior World Cup fixtures.
Green and Gold—New Aussie Competitions Part II
Southern States Under 20 Championships.
NSW Colts squad.
Reds Under 20s squad.
Southern States Under 20s squad.
