Wing Sean Maitland, loose forward Nasi Manu and wing Kade Poki are all current Crusaders players and were also members of the 2007 New Zealand U19 team which won the IRB U19 World Championship. Several other members of last year’s U19 World Champion team have been selected for the New Zealand U20 side and co-coach Russell Hilton-Jones said the selection process had been thorough.
“Since we first identified a wider squad for trials in December and again this month, a group of respected former rugby players and other specialist resource coaches have done extensive work on analysing each player’s ability and skill,” he said. “We have a group of talented young individuals who have done a tremendous job in getting themselves in contention for national selection.
“This group of players have shown maturity in understanding the requirements of a professional player. They all have a great work ethic and that has paid off for them.”
The squad of 26 will assemble at the Millennium Institute on Auckland’s North Shore from 3rd-6th May 2008 and at the same venue again for six days from 26th May. The squad departs Auckland for Wales on Saturday 31st May on Air New Zealand flight NZ39 at 11.30pm.
| New Zealand U20 | Club/Side | IRB U19 2007 |
| Ben Afeaki | North Harbour | Yes |
| Rodney Ah You | Canterbury | Yes |
| Luke Braid | Bay of Plenty | Yes |
| Ryan Crotty | Canterbury | Yes |
| Ash Dixon | Hawke’s Bay | Yes |
| Michael Harris | North Harbour | – |
| Grayson Hart | Auckland | – |
| Joe Hill | Wellington | – |
| Daniel Kirkpatrick | Wellington | Yes |
| Matthew Luamanu | Wellington | – |
| Quentin MacDonald | Tasman | Yes |
| Sean Maitland | Canterbury (S14) | Yes |
| Nasi Manu | Canterbury (S14) | Yes |
| Kade Poki | Tasman (S14) | Yes |
| Hugh Reed | Hawke’s Bay | – |
| Trent Renata | Waikato | Yes |
| Peter Saili | Auckland | Yes |
| Aaron Smith | Manawatu | – |
| Chris Smith | North Harbour | Yes |
| Toby Smith | Waikato | – |
| Andre Taylor | Manawatu | – |
| Josh Townsend | Otago | Yes |
| Sam Whitelock | Canterbury | Yes |
| Jackson Willison | Waikato | Yes |
Two players are still to be added to the final squad.
