The squads for the European Rugby League U19s Championship, set to kick off on Saturday 3 September in the Udine region, Italy, have been announced by the seven competing nations.
There will be three days of action, starting with each nation playing the other in 20-minute games to rank the teams. The top four will then contest the Championship semi-finals on Tuesday 6 September (80-minute games), whilst the teams ranked 5th to 7th will play each other once in 40-minute clashes on both Tuesday 6 and Saturday 10, with the highest placed team in the three-way competition being presented the European Plate.
The Championship Finals take place on Saturday 10 September (kick off at 18.00 local time), preceded by the Shield final (at 16.00), contested by the losing semi-finalists.
“Excitement is building within the squads who are gearing up for their departures on Thursday 1 September, and they are understandably excited about coming into camp in Lignano Sabbiadoro,” said ERL general manager, David Butler. “We are looking forward to some very competitive games, but we are already seeing some excellent examples of collaboration between the nations who all share the common goal of growing rugby league across the continent. It is fantastic to see Ukraine able to take up their spot.”
Defending champions France have included South Sydney backrower and the Rabbitohs U19’s player of the year Louis Grossemy in their squad. “South Sydney are very supportive of the international game and when Louis came to us and said he had an opportunity to play for France we gave him the thumbs up,” Souths pathways manager Joe O’Callaghan said.
“We believe it is a great opportunity for him to play for France. He is only 19 and doesn’t know any of his team-mates, so we think it will be great for his development to get that experience. We think very highly of Louis and when he comes back he will have a pre-season with the NRL squad.”
Wales have picked Gethin Thomas from Freemantle Roosters and Serbia included Parramatta’s Vlado Jankovic, and there are number of players across the squads linked to Super League academy sides.
U19s CHAMPIONSHIP SQUADS
England:
Bradlee Radford (East Hull), Andy Djeukam (East Leeds), Logan Holgate (Hensingham), Harry Penny (Ince Rose Bridge), Josh Wagstaff (Langworthy Reds), Noah Lancelott, Matthew Parkes, (Leigh Miners), Jack Newbigin, Rio McQuistan (Millom), Toby Hughes (Newton Storm), Dylan Turner (Oldham St Annes), Harvey Oldroyd (Siddal), Mekhi Bridgeman-Reaney (Stanningley & Leeds Rhinos), Mark Alban, Kieran Dean, Connor Goldthorpe, Ryan Wood (Thatto Heath), Callum Murphy, Scott Parnaby (Waterhead), Kieran Welburn (West Hull), Josh Leeson (Westgate Common)
France:
Benjamin Sinimale (Albi Rugby League), Nolan Lopez-Buttignol, Thibaut Marty (Carcassonne 13), Matthieu Garrigues, Thomas Monclus, Arthur Salles (FC Lezignan 13), Damien Huescar (Pia XIII), Elian Serre (RC Salon XIII), Kylian Benavent, Lenny Chachoua, Enzo Delbe, Romain Humbert, Julien Laporte, Salim Nahal, Rayan Tadjeur, Ben Abdesle Yacine (Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan), Louis Grossemy (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Maxence Barbet, Théo Fouque (Sporting Olympique Avignonnais), Sosthène, Ennoyotie, Mattéo Stéphani, Justin Tropis (Toulouse Olympique), Enzo Deltheil, Nesta Fleury (Villeneuve XIII)
Ireland:
David Downey, Kevin Downey, Matthew Henry (Athy RFC), Jack Crampton, Liam Hayes, Ryan Walsh, (Athboy RLFC) Sean Treacy (Athboy RLFC & Tribesmen), Jamie Gill, Xanda Rycroft (Bradford Bulls), Rory Lynch (Cork Bulls), Ned Conroy (Crosfields ARLFC), Kyle Stacey (Dublin City Exiles & Portarlington), Odhran Brannigan (Dublin City Exiles), Sam Campbell (Huddersfield Giants), Louix Gorman (Hull Kingston Rovers), Conor Colman, James Downes (Longhorns), Nathan Connell (Shevington Sharks & Salford Red Devils), Scott Bradley, Tadhg Dowdall (Tullamore RFC), Patrick Stapleton (Unattached)
Italy:
Gabriele Brullo, Giulio Corallo, Luigi La Rocca Erman, Emilio Stracquadanio (Catania), Fabio Dianti, Simone Moresco (Genova), Sebastiano Binutti, Raoul Coss, Tommaso Zuliani (Lignano), Alessandro Almasio, Filippo Bertossi, Marco Caffù, Stefano Cantore, Danilo Carrabetta, Mattia Ferroni, Nicolo Mazzotta, Davide Saita, Andrea Filippo Trivellin (Milano), Carlo Nicolai De Meyer, Christopher-Kyle De Meyer (Saluzzo),
Serbia:
Luka Stosic (Arsenal – Montenegro), Andrej Susak (Dorcol Tigers), Stefan Milenkovic (Morava Cheetahs), Vlado Jankovic (Parramatta Eels), Aleksandar Marinkovic, Anastas Nesic, Filip Samardzic, Darko Samardzic, Djordje Krnjeta, Enis Bibic, Marko Milicevic, Strahinja Stoiljkovic, Uros Ilic (Partisan 1953), Aleksa Zivojinovic, Jovan Loncar (Radnicki Belgrade), Lazar Stamenkovic, Luka Ilic, Ognjen Djordjevic, Veljko Djordjevic (Radnicki Nis), Dragan Kokanovic, Luka Trifunovic (Red Star), Aleksandar Stojanovic (Siddal),
Ukraine:
Oleh Bobrykovych, Nazarii Daniv, Vitalii Kharun, Serhii Konopada, Oleksandr Levandovskyi, Vitalii Romanov, Vladyslav Shelenko, (Carpathian Trinity), Oleksandr Slizovskyi (Dnipro), Yevhen Checheta, Oleksandr Dyskyi, Maksym Harmash, Andrii Hermanovych, Ihor Yefanov, Davyd Zazimko (Hard Sign), Bohdan Stetsun (Khmelnytskyi Eagles), Oleksandr Fomiuk (Kryvyi Rih Rugby), Ivan Lipisii (Kyiv Rhinos), Danylo Kozak, Oleh Kaspruk, Bohdan Marmaziuk, (Lviv Tigers), Andrii Levchyk (Rivne Giants)
Wales:
Michael Carter, Calum Jones, (Aber Valley Wolves), Bradley Toy (Aber Valley Wolves & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy), William McCarthy, Isaac Morgan, (Aberavon Fighting Irish), Llewellyn Hawkes, Lewis Ingram (Bridgend Blue Bulls), Jamie Jenkins, Dafydd Rhobert Orr Morgan, Dylan Morgan (Cardiff Blue Dragons & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy), Rhys Davies (Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy), Scott Pritchard, Billy Walkley, Finley Yates (Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy & Salford Red Devils), Jake Lacey (Cynon Valley Cavaliers & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy & Salford Red Devils), Bradley Williams (Cynon Valley Cavaliers & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy), Gethin Thomas (Fremantle Roosters), Oscar Fisher (Gateshead Storm & Newcastle Thunder), Robert Muirhead (Mon Knights), Mason Phillips (Rhondda Outlaws & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy), Charlie Glover (Salford Red Devils RL Academy), Ethan Harley (Telford Raiders), Alex Banks, Carter Barnes (Torfaen Tigers & Coleg Y Cymoedd RL Academy)