Western Force duo named in Australian Youth Boys 7s squad

Western Force duo Peni Naqau and Iziah Lolohea have been rewarded for their form in Super Rugby Men’s U19s, selected in the Australian Youth Boys 7s squad ahead of a camp in New South Wales on November 7-9.

Naqau didn’t miss a single minute for the Force during their three matches in the U19s regular season, finishing with the second-most carry metres out of any player on the team with 334, scoring one try, beating 11 defenders and making 11 line breaks.

The Force Academy squad member’s impressive U19s campaign has led to higher honours with the Youth Boys 7s squad. Nedlands outside back Lolohea also mounted a successful case for national selection ahead of Global Youth Sevens (GY7s) in December.

Naqau and Lolohea will assemble with the other sevens squad members at Lennox Head from Friday to Sunday, November 7-9. This camp serves as a selection and preparation opportunity ahead of GY7s in Auckland on December 19-21.

There will be another camp later in November for the Youth Boys 7s squad in Queensland.

USA Rugby selected 25 players for a similar camp earlier this month, with an aim to “find future Eagles” ahead of GY7s. Players were selected based on multiple player performances and identification opportunities, including multiple sevens events.

“These players are relishing the opportunities to play better rugby in quality Sevens tournaments, school championships, and representative level rugby. It’s exciting to see them come into camp and put their best foot forward for selection,” USA Men’s U18s coach David Fee said.

“We’ve proven in the past that we can compete and make it to the top half of the bracket [at Global Youth Sevens], but now, I would really like to see these players have a crack at the top teams in the final rounds.

“We’re excited to see how that experience improved and shaped their performance and playing standard this year. With the underlying objective of pathways camps to identify future senior players, this level of adaptation and transformation is the main objective,” Fee added.

“At the end of the day, our job is to find future Eagles, and this is another step in that journey for these young men.

“I believe all of these players have what it takes to challenge and compete at the next level. Exposing them to camps and events like Global Youth Sevens is a very important step in their process, and all of these players, regardless of selection, will be exposed to that type of high-performance environment.

“We are very thankful to the Golden Eagles and USA Pathways for continuing to invest in these opportunities for our young men to compete.”