Waratahs’ General Manager of Rugby, Tim Rapp, has announced his NSW Gen Blue Under 20 squad for the second year of the Super Rugby Under 20 competition.
After winning the first two National Under 20 tournaments in Canberra in 2014 and 2015, NSW Gen Blue could not make the final of the inaugural Super Rugby Under 20s in 2016, after a count-back.
Their team for the tournament had many in their Under 19 year and several flyhalves were injured before it started. Despite a centre making a good fist of it in the 10 jersey, they were well beaten by the Queensland and Rebels Under 20s.
As Rapp said:
We were inconsistent last year and we as staff need to take a lot of the responsibility for that, and we have. But there is good consistency there this year and the playing group along with the staff are improving every session.
New NSW Gen Blue system
But they are not just thinking about immediate results—their whole system has changed dramatically.
Now called the Elite Player Development Squad [EPD] , the EPD1 group will be for players in their Under 19 year and the EPD2 will involve Under 20 players.
There will also be a few in an EPD3 group for Under 21 players who the Waratahs want to develop further despite not being eligible for Under 20 rugby.
The three-year programme was not cast in stone: players could be advanced more quickly, case by case.
Compared to previous years, the 2017 programme is more about growing the person, and not just the rugby player—especially the Under 19 lads.
Rapp was honest about why they did it:
Previously we trained the squad as school leavers, Under 19 and Under 20, all together, which gave us a really large group. It didn’t allow our staff to get the individual development and coaching to all players from a tactical, technical, athletic development and nutritional angle until a lot later in the programme when we had a smaller squad.
We also failed to properly connect with the other factors of developing players with their mental skills and holistic/ leadership skills. Now we’re developing their life skills, careers and relationships at the same time rather than focusing too much time on rugby in a sprint to make it to the top straight away.
This didn’t mean that players in their Under 19 year wouldn’t be considered for the Under 20 team in 2017: it just meant that most of the younger fellows had different development needs.
The Colts’ connection
As they have since the inception of of the National Under 20 competition, before the Super Rugby Under 20 tournament began last year, the Waratahs have worked closely with the clubs.
For the third year the Waratahs invited eligible Colts players to compete in a three-way trial before the squad was chosen. Rapp has mentioned before that the Colts’ coaches are the best selectors and they helped to choose the trial players from all the clubs, not just their own.
A majority of the 45 players competing did not attend elite rugby schools.
The trial recognised that some players develop later both physically and in a rugby sense, and also gave lads who never had the chance to to represent in schoolboy rugby to get an audience. Rapp added:
Just because you are an Australian schoolboy one year doesn’t mean you deserve the automatic right the following year.
The Sydney Colts comp is good footy and really tough. It has always put forward new players each year and continued to develop and challenge those who already may have played representative rugby.
12 months development at these ages can yield massive changes physically, mentally and rugby-wise. Some hard working players who are second-year Colts players add more toughness to the squad.
Of the 45 trial players, 19 were selected for the 2017 EPD2 Under 20 group, and two youngsters who were Under 18s in 2016 were included in the EPD1 Under 19s.
In November the NSW Gen Blue Under 20s had 34 players in it’s EDP2 section and 36 in the younger EPD1s. These numbers have varied as players became unavailable because of “time-consuming tasks” or recovery from injury, but Rapp said, “We will maintain these group sizes roughly throughout the EPD Program”.
The squad
Ex-Waratahs’ prop Matt Bowman, who returns for another stint with Gen Blue, is set piece coach, and Greg Thompson, who coached the First XV at St. Josephs College, Hunters Hill, for the last four seasons, is the attack coach.
Gen Blue should have a more mature team than last year when half of the final tournament squad were “schoolies”.
They should have good scrum in 2017 with outstanding prospect Harry Johnson-Holmes locking the front row at THP. He started for the NSW U20s last year, got on the park for Sydney University First Grade, and held his own in practice with the Waratahs’ senior side in sessions last week. He will be partnered by prop Harry Chapman who was a late call-up for the Aussie U20s in Manchester last year, but did not get to play.
The second row should be one of their best units having three players who played for 2016 Gen Blue Under 20s. Hopefully Ryan McCauley will be released from senior duties as a Waratahs’ EPS player and should team well again with Tom Piroddi, who has shown a lot of physicality in training.
The third returning second rower from the 2016 tournament, Lachlan Swinton, had an outstanding Colt’s season for Sydney University in 2016, and started sometimes in First Grade. He is athletic enough to play 6; so one hopes his current injury can be overcome in time. Another lock, Jacob Banner from Penrith, is also training well; he was another in the three-way trial mentioned before.
The backs seem to be less distinguished but I have excluded Henry Hutchison and Simon Kennewell from my reckoning. Although formally in the EPD2s, they both have Sevens’ contracts with the ARU.
They are probably not available to play in the Super Rugby U20 tournament, but like those who play Super Rugby proper, they can be released for the World Under 20s.
Scrumhalf Theo Strang who broke his leg last year is another returnee, but there are few other backs who were in the 2016 Gen Blue U20s matchday teams who are repeating. However University scrumhalf Banjo Travers is another skillful no. 9—and if a schoolie has to step up, Aussie Baas Schoolboys’ scrummie, Tyzac Jordan, who trained with the senior Waratahs last week, should hold his own at the base of the scrum.
The lack of backline returnees is made less serious by the recruitment of two fine rugby league converts who played rugby union in 2016—Esera Chee-Kam (Rats) and Hutana Coffin (Norths). They both proved themselves in the three-way trial, and look like naturals in our code at training.
Fullback Tim Clements, who played in the national tournament last year, can also play wing or outside centre. He and winger Sepesa Tarogi, who must have gone close to selection in 2016, have both have been notable at training recently.
Another who played in the Colts trial, centre Eddie King, is also coming out of the woodwork and could make his mark.
However, if there is room in the backs for 2016 schoolies, Nick Wilkinson, an inside centre who can play flyhalf with distinction, could get a shot, as could another 2016 Aussie Schools’ player, Yirrbi Jaffer-Williams, a winger who can play outside centre. A complete smokie could be winger Jackson Mohi who was unaccountably overlooked for national selection for Aussie Schools last year.
Asked if he ever found the fellow who was putting pins in the voodoo dolls of injured flyhalves last year, Rapp answered:
No unfortunately!! They got Dan England in the Sevens’ comp at the end of 2016 as well, with a broken leg. He would have been a valuable member of this year’s squad.
But this gives another player an opportunity so we can’t focus on negatives. Dan will come back to the Waratahs after his injury and continue to play, and we might unleash the next Bernard Foley with that opportunity!
Player Lists
NSW Waratahs EPD2 (U20s) *
Lachlan Anderson, Jacob Banner, Daniel Boardman, Philip Bradford, Harry Chapman, Tim Clements, Hutana Coffin, Justin Cooper, Alec Corcoran, Siale Fifita, Max Girdler, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Esera Chee-Kam, Eddy King, Kepu Lokotui, Ryan McCauley, Dom McGrath, Harry McLennan, Will McRae, Sam Musgrave, Jack Nettleton, Josh Noonan, Tom Piroddi, James Ramm, Lachie Simpson, Max Stewart, Theo Strang, Lachlan Swinton, Sepesa Tarogi, Banjo Travers, Cody Walker, Joe Williams.
NSW Waratahs EDP1 (U19s)
Bo Abra, James Armstrong, Jacob Bristowe, Nick Brown, Will Harrison, Sean Hasegawa, Will Haskins, Luke Hurditch, Tyzac Jordan, Josh Kemeny, Bayley Kuenzle, Nathan Lawson, Ryan Longville, Delahoya Manu, Hugh Margin, Dan Matthew, Jackson Mohi, Jordan Morris, Matthew Orpen, Tom Osborne, Patrick Pelligrini, Dylan Pietsch, Charles Rorke, Darcy Searl, Connor Size, Rory Suttor, Will Terry, DJ Tifa, Harry Turner, Dylan Valeni, James Wayland, William Wennerbom, Nick Wilkinson, Yirribi Jaffer-Williams, Angus Windred, Lachlan Windred.
* Excludes Hutchison and Kennewell as referred to earlier. Note that the lists for both groups change from time to time.
Trial games
Trial 1 – 4 Feb at Mudgee v. Central West Opens team (curtain raiser to Waratahs v Brumbies Super Ruby trial) about 4:00pm.
Trial 2 – 11 Feb at Bowral v. ACT Under 20s (time TBA)
Trial 3 – 17 Feb at Bus Loop, Moore Park v. Sydney University Uni, 5:30pm
Photos by Lee Grant
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