The Waratahs Under 20s squad is hitting their straps after weeks of being flogged at training and are heading to their first hurdle of surviving a cut in the new year.
About 60 promising lads were at the Bus Loop training field yesterday, soaking up the content from Waratahs’ coaches Cam Blades and Chris Malone, and Under 20s assistant coach Matt Bowman, under the direction of Head Coach Tim Rapp, who is also an Australian assistant coach in 2016.
But there were keen contests in exercises with rivals all over the field.
Though it was in the late afternoon it was hot and one large prop was warned not to play dead in a wrestling contest.
Blades gave them a masterclass in how to use their core strength in contact, including the contact at scrum time—as long as they kept their bodies locked in the right shape and used small steps in recovery they could use their core to effect and still provide something solid for the guys behind them to push against.
By staying compact they could still win a scrum penalty after being in trouble because it would show a good attitude to the ref.
Mums of some of the boys should not be surprised to see them watching TV in the crouch position and lifting one hand and the opposite foot, the spine straight.
There were other gems like this including some lineout tips that some hadn’t heard of before.
They were hardly secrets: Blades was barking instructions like an army sergeant and you could have heard him on Anzac Parade in the traffic.
The Academy feel
There is more of an Academy feel to the Under 20s this year. Although some Under 19 players will be cut in the new year Rapp said that the Waratahs wanted to “maintain them in the gym and athletic development-wise so that next year they are a step ahead of what they normally are.”
The concept behind that is longer term care and development of the athlete, so it’s not just a one-off hit and you’re not good enough, see you later: we need to look after them a lot more.
Rapp said in that way the Waratahs could earn a bit more loyalty to them so they wanted to play for the Waratahs as opposed to wanting to be a Super Rugby player.
On the other hand Rapp mentioned there were “third year players” who were no longer eligible for Under 20s but haven’t been pulled into the top Waratahs squad yet, who show potential and shouldn’t be neglected.
There are late maturers or guys who just need a little bit more athletic development and with another year under their belt may be able to turn into something special.
There are three Under 20 trials planned. Rapp said they want to keep the relationship with NSW Country and may use some of the U19 players who didn’t make the cut in a trial against them in the new year. This was to indicate to youngsters that they wouldn’t be forgotten. The other trials planned are against Randwick and Sydney University.
There will be an internal trial next week to help with trimming the squad down. Although the boys had been training for a long time already Rapp said:
The’re footballers, not just athletes…some guys are fantastic trainers but there are others who are bad trainers but really good footballers; so they need an opportunity to show their wares as a rugby player which is ultimately what they are.
Super Rugby Under 20s
The five Super Rugby franchises will develop their own Under 20 teams for 2016 whereas in the last two years players from the Force, Rebels and Brumbies areas, and two Country sides, played with a South Australia team in an Adelaide tournament from which a Barbarians team was picked.
In 2016 there will be no national tournament in Canberra as there has been in the past two years, but the Super Rugby Under 20s will play each other once in a round-robin, and there will be a final in April. The aim is to have these games as curtain-raisers to Super Rugby matches but there are no fixtures listed yet and the Super Rugby Under 20 competition itself is not yet official.
The national selectors will have a look at teams from NSW Country, Queensland Country and South Australia in a three-way tournament in Adelaide but there will be no Australian Barbarians’ Under 20 team playing in 2016.
Rapp said that there weren’t a lot of returning NSW players from last season who were still eligible but there were more from club rugby who had played Colts, or better.
When asked to name some players who were training well he said a lot were, but mentioned props Jordan Lotoanui (Parramatta) and Sean Dillon (Gordon), flanker Jack Hayson (Randwick), centre Tom Molloy (Randwick) plus outside backs Ned Yeomans and Guy Porter who were both returning from injury.
Trial dates
Internal trial – Dec 17th 4:15 pm – The Bus Loop
[Below – updated 22 Jan 16]
3-Way – Sun 7th Feb – 11 am – John Dwyer Oval, Burraneer – Waratahs U20 v NSW Country U20 v Waratahs U19
v Randwick – Sat 13th Feb – 1 pm – Bus Loop, Moore Park (TBC)
v Sydney University – Fri 19th Feb – 5:30 pm – Bus Loop, Moore Park
Photos by Lee Grant
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