photo by Mark Harris

The Wales under-19s rugby league side face their toughest test of the year on Sunday when they face the highly rated Australian Schoolboys side at Blackwood RFC (kick-off 2.30pm).

For the Australians, this is their first outing in a gruelling seven-match tour of Europe and will be determined to start their campaign with a win.

But as they don’t leave Australia until Wednesday 22nd November, Wales Team Manager Ross Olney (pictured above) believes that his inexperienced but determined side can catch their potentially jet-lagged visitors on the hop.

Olney said: “We’ve got a pretty strong squad which I believe is one the best we’ve had at this age level. We’ve trained hard and are very positive about the match. We’ve put in a lot of hard work and the lads are determined to put in a good performance.”

Wales will select the side from a squad of 27 that includes nine players who are new to the sport and don’t currently play for a rugby league club.

Their experience will come from the ten survivors from Wales’ six-nation European Championship campaign in July in France, where they finished fourth. These include Chris Vitalini, Oliver Hughes, Lee Williams and Daniel Phillips who were on Celtic Crusaders books as Academy players this year and Matt Barron who is the same at fellow National League Two side Keighley Cougars. Meanwhile local fans will be hoping that Blackwood Bulldogs’ Nick Tucker will make his international debut.

Olney explains: “We had an open trial to bring in some new blood and mix the squad together. Some of them are some highly skilled solid rugby union players who have taken to the sport like a duck to water. I’m sure they’ll all be playing for clubs come next summer and they won’t let us down if selected.”

The Australian Schoolboys side have one of the best records in rugby league. Since their inception in 1972, the Australian Schoolboys side have won 97 out of their 104 matches.

But five of those seven defeats have been in the last four years. Last time they toured the UK four years ago, they were solidly beaten 2-0 in the Test Series against Great Britain, the England Academy famously beat them 33-24 in their own backyard in 2004, while they will travel to Wales on the back of a 46-8 drubbing by New Zealand.

However they mustn’t be taken lightly as the Australian Schoolboys side have a history of producing notable test players including Alan Langer, Kevin Walters, Laurie Daley, Brad Mackay, Dean Pay, Terry Hill, Jim Dymock, Jason Smith and Nick Kosef.

An interesting match-up is in store for fans in Blackwood on Sunday. Admission is just £3 for adults and £1 for children.

Wales:
1. Kevin James - Valley Cougars
2. Jason Kenneally - Fighting Irish
3. Lee Williams - Fighting Irish
4. Chris Vitalini - Titans
5. Adam Richards - Fighting Irish
6. Owen Lewis - Valley Cougars
7. John Griffiths - Sharks
8. Matt Barron - Keighley Cougars
9. Tom Burnell - Demons
10. Chris Holcombe - Whitchurch
11. Nicky Tucker - Bulldogs
12. Geraint Evans - Valley Cougars
13. Chris Watts - Valley Cougars
14. Gareth Moore - Fighting Irish
15. Liam Williams - Demons
16. Sam Studley - Valley Cougars
17. Lewis Fox - Demons
18. Steve Williams - Valley Cougars

Australia (from)
Jay Aston - Brisbane State High School
Joel Brown - St Philip's Christian College Waratah
Luke Capewell - Redcliffe State High School
Israel Folau - Marsden State High School
Liam Foran - Marist College North Shore
Obadiah Geia - Kirwan State High School
David Hala - Southern Cross College
Chris Lawrence - St Gregorys Campbelltown
Tim Mannah - Christian Community High School
William Mataka - St Gregorys, Campbelltown
Will Matthews - Palm Beach Currumbin State High
Luke Muttdon - Kiama High School
Joseph Paulo - Patrician Brothers, Blacktown
Mitchell Pearce - Marist College North Shore
Kevin Proctor - Palm Beach Currumbin State High
Timothy Robinson - Patrician Brothers, Blacktown
Chris Sandow - Marsden State High School
Nathan Strudwick - John Paul College
Ratu Peni Tagive - St Gregorys, Campbelltown
Joel Thompson - Red Bend Catholic College, Forbes
Aiden Tolman - St Paul's Kempsey
Shannon Walker - Palm Beach Currumbin State High
Jeremiah Walters - Marsden State High
Cameron White  - Oxley High

The remaining matches on the tour are:

BARLA v Australia schooboys
The Coupland Stadium
29 November - 7:30pm

Community Lions v Australia schoolboys
Doncaster Rugby Union Club
2 December 2:00pm

England Academy v Australia schoolboys
Gratton Stadium
Date TBC, 2.00pm

England Academy v Australia schoolboys
Halton Stadium
15 December 7:30pm

France Juniors v Australia schoolboys
Stade Domec a Carcassonne
17 December

French Juniors v Australia schoolboys
Stade des Minimes a Toulouse
20 December

article by Ian Golden
20 November 2006