Melbourne Rebels rookie Jonah Placid and NSW Waratah Andrew Kellaway return for their second campaign, while Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens player Brad Wilkin is also among the professional players to feature in Thomson’s squad.

The squad includes 12 players from the NSW Under 20’s side that won the National Under 20’s Championship in March, as well as 10 players from Queensland, three players from Victoria with two each from Western Australia and the ACT.

The Australian Under 20’s will take on New Zealand, Japan and Samoa in a preparation tournament before the World Rugby Junior World Championship in June. The FORU Under 20’s Championship will kick off at Bond University on the Gold Coast on Friday 1 May.

Australian Under 20’s Head Coach, Adrian Thompson said although the squad was not finalised, each player will have an opportunity to impress, both on and off the field.

“This is great opportunity for players to come together and press their claims with a series of training sessions and workshops before the tournament begins.

“The Australian Under 20’s program is an extremely important stage in the development of our future stars through the Pathway to Gold program, this is why we have taken a squad approach initially.

“To the players who unfortunately missed out on making the squad we will still be keeping a close eye on their form throughout their academies and club Rugby commitments.

Some recent Australian Under 20’s players who have represented the Qantas Wallabies including Rebels flanker Sean McMahon, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Matt Toomua and Jake Schatz.

2014 Australian Under 20s representative and Queensland Under 20s winger, Conrad Quick was not considered for selection for the FORU Under 20s Championship due to injury.

2015 Australian Under 20’s Extended Squad: