By Graham Croker
Prop Harry Johnson-Holmes, hooker Tom Horton, backrower Lachlan Swinton and halfback Theo Strang have been named in the 29-man squad to face Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand in the Oceania Championships.
Australian Under 20 Coach Simon Cron said the tournament will be played with one eye on the World Rugby Under 20s Championship to be held in Georgia in June.
Players currently unavailable for selection due to Super Rugby or Australian Sevens commitments include Sham Vui (Western Force), Jordan Uelese (Melbourne Rebels), Esei Haangana (Melbourne Rebels), Izaia Perese (Queensland Reds), Sione Tuipulotu (Melbourne Rebels), Liam McNamara (Aussie 7s), Henry Hutchison (Aussie 7s), Simon Kennewell (Aussie 7s) and Lachlan Anderson (Aussie 7s).
Australia will be looking to win the Oceania Championship for the first time, having competed in the tournament since 2015.
“We had a very short National Camp last week and have coached some of the basic areas we need to do well to be successful,” coach Cron said. “As a squad we had a chance to work on some cohesiveness in our ball skills and talk about key fundamentals around which we will base our attack and defensive systems.
“We’ll head into camp on the Gold Coast on April 25 and we need to continue on from where we left off. There are some great boys in the group and I am looking forward to working with them more in detail over the coming weeks.”
The Oceania Championships will be played at Bond University Rugby Field on April 28, May 2 and May 6.
The Australian squad includes:
Prop
Harry Johnson-Holmes, NSW
Harry Chapman, NSW
Vaauli Faamausili, Victoria
Dan Matthew, NSW
Hooker
Tom Horton, NSW
Efi Maafu, Queensland
Sama Malolo, Western Australia
Lock
Harry Hockings, Queensland
Angus Blyth, Queensland
Ryan McCauley, NSW
Darcy Swain, ACT
Backrow
Lachlan Swinton, NSW
Angus Scott-Young, Queensland
Reece Hewat, Queensland
Liam Wright, Queensland
Angus Allen, ACT
Scrumhalf
Harry Nucifora, Queensland
Ryan Lonergan, ACT
Theo Strang, NSW
Flyhalf
Hamish Stewart , Queensland
Jack McGregor, Victoria
Centre
Tony Hunt, Queensland
Nick Jooste, ACT
Dylan Riley, Queensland
Len ikitau, ACT
Wing
James Ramm, NSW
Jayden Ngamanu, Queensland
Fullback
Semisi Tupou, Victoria
Jack Maddocks, Victoria