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Bondies named in squad for Oceania Rugby U20s Championship

Four Bondies will take to the field at the Oceania Rugby U20s Championships, to be held at Bond University next week, after being named in the BMW Australian U20s squad.

Angus Blyth, Harry Nucifora, Hamish Stewart and Dylan Riley will all get a start as part of the 29-strong Australian team at the tournament, which runs from April 28 to May 6 at Bond University Rugby Fields.

The team features 11 players from the Queensland U20s side, fresh from taking home their second straight Super U20s Championship title earlier this month.

The three-round championship will kick-off on Friday, 28 April, with the Australian side versing Samoa at 7pm AEST.

The Aussies will then take on Fiji in Round Two on Tuesday, 2 May.

The final round will see the Australians battling it out against New Zealand, expected to be a thrilling match, after the side defeated New Zealand at U20s level for the first time during the 2016 tournament.

Blyth has secured the lock position in the BMW Australian U20s side, while Nucifora will play scrumhalf, Stewart will take to the field as flyhalf and Riley will be centre.

Bond University Director of Rugby and Premier Grade Head Coach, Sean Hedger, said it was a great result for the Bond Rugby Club (BRC) to have four players named among the U20s side.

"To have four BRC athletes selected to play in such a prestigious competition shows the calibre of talent we have at the club and, indeed, across the state, with more than a third of the team from the Queensland U20s side," he said.

"The Bond boys will have the added advantage of knowing the conditions of the Bond Rugby Field, which is their home turf.

"I wish each of them the best of luck and look forward to watching them succeed from the sidelines."

BMW Australia U20s Head Coach, Simon Cron said it was important to continue to build the players rugby brains while continuing to train strategically.

“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," he 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 Tuesday 25 April and we need to continue on from where we left off. We have to keep building on the boys' rugby brains as well as the tactical and technical coaching.

“There are some great boys in the group and I am looking forward to working with them more in detail over the coming weeks.”

2017 Oceania Rugby U20s Championship Fixtures: 

Round 1, Friday 28 April
New Zealand v Fiji, 5.00pm AEST
Australia v Samoa, 7.00pm AEST

Round 2, Tuesday 2 May
New Zealand v Samoa, 3.00pm AEST
Australia v Fiji, 5.00pm AEST

Round 3, Saturday 6 May
Samoa v Fiji, 5.00pm AEST
Australia v New Zealand, 7.00pm AEST

Admission to the Friday and Saturday matches is $5 (children under 12 are free) and admission to the Tuesday match is free for everyone.

Free Parking available on campus adjacent to the rugby fields.

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