At least 10 Aucklanders are in the running to represent New Zealand at next year’s World Rugby Under 20 Championships.

All of them featured for Auckland in September, winning the Graham Mourie Cup at the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 tournament in Taupo.

The players are:

John Akau’ola-Laula (Pakuranga, lock)

Rob Cobb (Ponsonby, prop)

Waimana Reidlinger-Kapa (Ponsonby, lock)

Ben Sa’u (Papatoetoe, lock/loose forward)

Hoskins Sotutu (Marist, loose forward/lock)

Cameron Suafoa (College Rifles, lock)

Sione Havili (College Rifles, loose forward)

Wiseguy Faiane (Pakuranga, first five)

Harry Plummer (Grammar TEC, five-eighths)

Tanielu Tele’a (Marist, threequarter)

Havili, Faiane and Plummer all debuted for Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup, while Sotutu was an unused replacement in the final game against Canterbury. Tele’a played for Samoa at this year’s world championships.

At least 11 others in the 52-strong group for a December development camp in Palmerston North played their First XV rugby in Auckland.

Coach Craig Philpott said it was always an exciting part of the process to get the players in for the first development camp.

“There is a lot done to get to this point. We have selectors across the country looking at several levels of rugby – First XV, Jock Hobbs, Mitre 10 Cup. This is a chance to get them in and see where they are at,” said Philpott.

“We are particularly pleased with the depth we have in this group compared to previous years. Especially in the front row – we have five hookers and nine props coming in because they have all put their hands up.”

The squad features 10 players who had been involved in the 2016 wider squad, while four players have been recognised for their performances in the New Zealand Schools team earlier this month.

“We’ll assess the boys on strength and conditioning, body composition, skill set and technical knowledge of the game. From there we can put together a clear plan with specific goals and guidelines for each player so they know what is expected from them.”

Most players will be involved with Super Rugby development or age group programmes at the start of 2018 before assembling again in March. A squad will be selected from the development group to play in the Oceania tournament in April in Australia.

Philpott will once again be joined by assistant coach Willie Rickards and scrum coach Dave Hewett, with David Hill (Bay of Plenty) also joining the coaching team in an assistant’s role.

“It’s great to have continuity in coaching with three of the four returning for another campaign. And David is familiar with our programme as he’s worked as a skills coach in the past so has a clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve.”

The 2018 Under 20 Championship schedule (dates and venue) has yet to be confirmed.