Also included in the squad are William Caldwell, Luke Doherty, Mark Gerrard, Peter Hynes, Mafi Kefu, Guy Shepherdson, Chris Siale and Jone Tawake who were a part of the Australian side that finished runners-up to host nation South Africa at last year’s tournament.

ACT Brumbies Set Piece and Brumby Academy Coach Laurie Fisher has been appointed to coach the Australians and says that having players who have played Super 12 this year will be an advantage.

“It’s a tremendous boost to have players of that talent who have played a year of Super 12 available to us,” said Fisher.

“They are professional players and their experience from playing at Super 12 level will give us an edge.

“It’s quite encouraging that a lot of the guys have been in a full time programme so it’s certainly a good base to build from.”

Fisher also said that the team would benefit from players who have made their mark at club level this year and others who have been a part of the Australian Sevens programme.

“Hopefully they are all players of the future. There are players with a lot of potential that have come through the Sevens programme such as Chris Siale and Drew Mitchell. Marty Wilson has done well for Eastwood this year and looks to be a very skilful player.”

Players selected to represent the Vodafone Australia A team on their two-match tour of Japan will return to Australia before departing for the Under 21 World Cup.

Australia will face host union England and arch rivals New Zealand in pool matches during the tournament.

Seeded second for the tournament, the Australians will open their campaign by playing England on 13 June before further pool matches against Italy on 17 June and New Zealand on 21 June.

The championship will be played at Oxfordshire with the Semi Finals on 25 June and the Finals on 29 June.

SQUAD

Richard Brown (QLD)
Will Caldwell (NSW)
Marco Cecere (ACT)
Mitchell Chapman (QLD)
Nicholas Churven (QLD)
Luke Doherty (QLD)
Rocky Elsom (NSW)
Gene Fairbanks (QLD)
Mark Gerrard (ACT)
Daniel Halangahu (NSW)
Nick Haydon (NSW)
Peter Hynes (QLD)
Mafi Kefu (QLD)
Alan Manning (NSW)
Lachlan McKay (NSW)
Drew Mitchell (QLD)
Steve Moore (QLD)
Cameron Shepherd (NSW)
Chris Siale (NSW)
Guy Shepherdson (ACT)
Jone Tawake (NSW)
Lei Tomiki (NSW)
Elia Tuqiri (NSW)
Josh Valentine (QLD)
Peter Waring (NSW)
Martin Wilson (NSW)

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Laurie Fisher (Head Coach)
Brett Johnstone (Assistant Coach)
Chris Webb (Team Manager)
Angus Bathgate (Medical Coordinator)
Graeme Backen (Physiotherapist)
Damian Marsh (Trainer)
Ben Whitaker (Technical Advisor)