Back in 2007, current England boss Eddie Jones was an interested onlooker at the IRB Junior World Championship, commentating on several matches for Total Rugby.
The Aussie was therefore perfectly placed to identify five players who caught the eye in what he described as a “very high quality tournament.”
New Zealand lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites to be crowned the inaugural champions, beating England 38-3 in the final at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea with some impressive displays along the way.
But which five players made Jones’ shortlist of those to keep an eye on in the future? Find out below along with how they got ont.
#5. DAVID POCOCK – AUSTRALIA
Flanker and Captain
Jones said: “David is a very good player. We tried to sign him when I was coaching Queensland. A very nice kid, comes from a nice family from Zimbabwe, very hard working, strong at the tackle – a very good tackler and a good leader. He’s going to be a pretty good player for Australia.”
Embed from Getty ImagesWhere is he now? Pocock quit rugby in 2020 to focus on his conservation efforts. The Zimbabwe-born flanker, who was capped 83 times over an 11-year Wallabies career, opted against returning to his Japanese Top League club, the Panasonic Wild Knights, for another season.