Australia A coach Jason Gilmore has confirmed three Western Force players in his squad for the upcoming three-match tour against Japan XV.
This selection denotes Ollie Callan's first call up to an international squad having returned from a kidney contusion late in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.
The 22-year-old attests he is ready to take this next step and rise to the opportunity of selection.
“I’m excited to be included in the squad, now I’ll put my best foot forward to be selected for a game,” Callan stated.
“I’ll be in an established environment so hopefully I can bring a few key learnings into my game, further preparing myself for the 2023 season.”
With the Japan league widely known to be fast and agile, Bayley Kuenzle admits this opportunity can strengthen his endurance capacity after missing several games this season due to concussion.
“It will be a great step up to play with the others selected, I have been watching a few of the Japan league clips, the style of ruby over there is a bit quicker so hopefully I can level up and grow with the experience,” Kuenzle mentioned.
“I’m looking forward to being apart of it and love being on tour, to be able to play for Australia is pretty cool.”
Tom Robertson returns and is one of the 12 capped Wallabies named in the group. Force’s new fly-half Hamish Stewart also makes his return to the international touring squad.
The tour that kicks off on October 1 inTokyo and provides an opportunity for those to push their Test cases ahead of the Wallabies End of Year Tour and gain invaluable experience and game time against International opposition.
Australia A coach Jason Gilmore said: “It’s great to have these three matches coming up to continue the development and give our players more game time against high level international opposition."
“With Dave Rennie’s guidance, we’ve picked the best possible players who are available and everyone’s really excited to put the work in on the training paddock and perform well over in Japan.”
Australia A squad for Japan Tour
Richie Asiata, Queensland Reds
Tom Banks, ACT Brumbies
Ollie Callan, Western Force
Jock Campbell, Queensland Reds
Hudson Creighton, ACT Brumbies
Filipo Daugunu, Queensland Reds
Ben Donaldson, NSW Waratahs
Tane Edmed, NSW Waratahs
Pone Fa'amausili, Melbourne Rebels
Nick Frost, ACT Brumbies
Matt Gibbon, Melbourne Rebels
Langi Gleeson, NSW Waratahs
Ned Hanigan, NSW Waratahs
Isaac Henry, Queensland Reds
Archer Holz, NSW Waratahs
Harry Hoopert, Queensland Reds
Max Jorgensen*, NSW Waratahs
Bayley Kuenzle, Western Force
Lachlan Lonergan, ACT Brumbies
Ryan Lonergan, , ACT Brumbies
Mark Nawaqanitawase, NSW Waratahs
Caderyn Neville, ACT Brumbies
Dylan Pietsch, NSW Waratahs
Billy Pollard, ACT Brumbies
Tom Robertson, Western Force
Rory Scott, ACT Brumbies
Ryan Smith, Queensland Reds
Hamish Stewart, Western Force
Darcy Swain, ACT Brumbies
James Tuttle, Melbourne Rebels
Seru Uru, Queensland Reds
Suli Vunivalu, Queensland Reds
Brad Wilkin, Melbourne Rebels
Teddy Wilson, NSW Waratahs
*denotes Development Player
Australia A vs Japan XV Tour
Saturday, October 1, at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo
Saturday, October 8, at Best Denki Stadium in Fukuoka
Friday, October 14, at Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka
