Players schoolboys coach wants to see at Australian schools rugby for Fiji, Australian U18 battles

The special skills and body types the Australian schoolboys rugby coach is searching for at the schools championships this week are quite specific. So what players matter the most to him?

The Australian schoolboys team playing Fiji in 2024. Pictures: Supplied

Size matters to schoolboys coach Daniel Hawke and it is one of the things he is on the hunt for at the Australian schoolboy championships on the Sunshine Coast this week.

Hawke and fellow schoolboy selectors are looking for big physiques, particular skills and a certain style of player at the annual tournament starting Monday which is throwing a wide and bright spotlight on the best young rugby talent in the country.

The event and the national junior rugby championship being run concurrently in Queensland will also be used by the Australian U18s coach to help select his squad with both the Australian schoolboys and Under 18s teams playing in a series of matches in September in Canberra.

Australian schoolboys teams have been playing international matches since the last 1960 with the annual schools tournament helping bring up an assembly line of future Wallabies and Super Rugby players.

The Australian U18s and Australian schoolboys will meet in a much-anticipated battle on September 25 before the Australian U18s take on their New Zealand counterparts on September 29 and October 4.

AUSSIE SCHOOLS TOP TIPS

The Australian schoolboys team playing Fiji in 2024. Picture: Supplied

The Australian Schoolboys will also be playing a touring Fijian side on September 30 and October 4.

“Size is a huge part of the game. When you play a physical team like Fiji we will need to fight fire with fire,” Hawke said.

“It’s not the be all and end all but we will be looking for some powerful bodies,

The Australian schoolboys team were beaten in both their games against Fiji in 2024. Picture: Supplied

“Every year they seem to get bigger and bigger.”

The Australian schoolboys travelled to Fiji for two games last year with sickness in the side for the second match.

“They beat us both times but it was one of the most amazing experiences. They are mad for rugby there,” Hawkes said.

“You couldn’t hear a thing, couldn’t talk to the person next to you for the noise.”

Hawke said he knows what he wants to see at the schools tournament from prospective team members.

“We will be looking for the work off the ball, the things a player does off the ball that makes everyone else’s job easier,’’ he said.

“People can have big moments when they have a footy but it’s the stuff they did off it that set things up and is so crucial.

“Team first is also very important, they have to be able to work with each other and we want people that see challenge.

“We also want players with a point of difference, someone physical a tactician someone with good game membership that sort of thing.’’

The schoolboys section of the Australian schools event begins on Monday with their finals on Thursday.

The girls Australian schools competition from Friday to Sunday.

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Originally published as Players schoolboys coach wants to see at Australian schools rugby for Fiji, Australian U18 battles