ACT squad finalised ahead of Schoolboys Championships

The ACT Schoolboys have finalised their 23-man squad ahead of next week’s Australian Schools Championships at Sydney’s Knox Grammar.

St Edmund’s College has 14 players selected in the squad while Daramalan College and Erindale College are the other two schools with multiple players included, with two representatives each.

Four players have been chosen for a second successive year, including Tom Moulds (Canberra Grammar School), St Edmund’s College pair Leslie Makin and Alex Rowley, and Erindale College’s Brendan Taueki, who will start for the Tuggeranong Vikings first grade side against Gungahlin on Saturday.

The ACT captain will be named at a team dinner on Sunday night before the squad departs for Sydney on Tuesday, 7 July.

ACT Schoolboys Head Coach Josh Vaughan says he’s looking for an improved performance on last year’s Australian Schools Championships.

“We were a bit disappointing at last year’s championships; we were decimated by injuries but that was no excuse for not finishing as high as hoped,” he said.

“We’re very happy with the squad we’re heading to Sydney with this year and we’re very comfortable across all positions at the moment.

“Our tighthead prop Leslie Makin is into his second Australian School Championships and he’s developed considerably in the last year. Our back row is extremely fast, agile and quick on the ball and they’ve got a lot of potential. Similarly, our outside backs have a lot of pace and they’ve shown their desire to attack which is also strength and very exciting for the side.

“Our goal is to ultimately perform as best we can. We have Queensland I first up and we want to set a high standard of rugby from beginning and, all things going our way, we’ll be a good showing for the finals.”

Australian Schools Championships
Knox Grammar School, Sydney
Wednesday, 8 July, 2009 – Monday, 13 July, 2009

ACT Squad
Finlay Bealham (St Edmund’s College), Billy Chalker (St Edmund’s College), Clinton Dale (Erindale College), James Field (St Edmund’s College), Damien Gubler (Marist College), Jake Holland (St Edmund’s College), Trent Hoscher (Erindale College), Tom Hyland (Daramalan College), Ryan Jones (St Edmund’s College), David Kerr (St Edmund’s College), Tim Knight (St Edmund’s College), Junior Lomu (St Edmund’s College), John Loseli (Wade High School, Griffith), Leslie Makin (St Edmund’s College), Karl Mihaljvic (St Edmund’s College), Tom Moulds (Canberra Grammar School), Alastair O’Rian (Albury High School), Joel Priestly (St Edmund’s College), Alex Rowley (St Edmund’s College), Alex Small (Daramalan College), Brendan Taeuki (Erindale College), Matt Thorpe (St Edmund’s College), Joe Vress (St Edmund’s College)
Coach: Josh Vaughan
Assistant Coach: Craig Leseberg
Manager: Denzil Fox
Physiotherapist: Will Maher

ACT Schedule

Day 1 – Wednesday, 8 July
2.15pm – Queensland I v ACT

Day 2 – Thursday, 9 July
3.00pm – NSW II v ACT

Day 3 – Saturday, 11 July
11.15am – NSW I v ACT

Day 4 – Monday, 13 July
9.30am – Redraw Match
11.15am – Redraw Match
1.00pm - FINAL