Australian Schools and U18 head coach Shannon Fraser is looking to fast-track the development of the next generation of players after a disrupted past few seasons.Fraser will take charge of the squad against an Invitational U19 Barbarians side in Canberra on Sunday, looking to see growth at the culmination of a week-long camp at the AIS.Watch Australian Schools and U18s take on the U19 Barbarians on Rugby.com.au“It’s a great opportunity for the guys,” Fraser told Rugby.com.au“They’ll be playing against a group of players that are coming together late but they’re a year older, going to be more physically intimidating and stronger.“It’s a really important element to putting things together. It’s an educational week that starts their journey so it’s important to do that seven-day cycle where there’s information learn, develop and practice and execute under pressure.“That becomes a vehicle for them to show how they’ve gone about it, are they able to produce it under pressure and are they able to execute to the standards we set?“It’s a really important week and the game at the end of it is icing on the cake in the reaction to the program.”The ongoing impacts surrounding COVID have restricted the opportunities for the squad, unable to play since their heroics in 2019 when they defeated New Zealand Schools.Fraser was hopeful the return of the camp can spark that 'connection.'“It’s really important. It’s been a lean year for these boys coming through their final years of school and that transition period from school to university,” Fraser admits.“They’ve been disrupted in the amount of high quality games they’ve got to play so putting on an opportunity like this to learn from really quality staff, mix in with a highly talented group of play, it’s really important.“It helps get them connected with a national program and the Australian colours and jumper. We want these guys fighting for representative honours heading forward.“It’s an emotional connection to the jersey and country as well.”Fraser remains optimistic they can line up a return to International opposition, stressing the importance of testing themselves against the best.“We went these guys to experience the International stage and play against high-quality International opposition,” he added.“Logistically, it’s tough when school holidays don’t fall in the same time…but there’s some really key people in the high-performance department driving programs to make sure we provide the best opportunity for that to happen.“We’ll hopefully next year take that next forward towards making it happen.”Click Here: Scotland Rugby Shirt
