THE EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE SIGNS YOUNG GUNS
Two rising stars of Australian schoolboy rugby have joined the Emirates Western Force.
Australian Schoolboys inside back James O’Connor and Australia A Schools outside back Dane Haylett-Petty have accepted senior Academy contracts with the Perth-based Investec Super 14 team.
O’Connor was a member of the Queensland I side which won the Australian Schools Division I Championships in Canberra over the weekend.
He has been selected in the Australian Schools team to play the England U18s in Brisbane on 19 August.
Last year, O’Connor was picked in an Australian Rugby Union U16s ‘merit team’ after representing Queensland at the national championships in Sydney.
A product of the Nudgee School in Brisbane, he is a versatile footballer who can play flyhalf or in the centres.
Haylett-Petty is the first locally-based West Australian to be offered a place in the Emirates Western Force squad.
The fullback/winger, who can also play outside centre, attended the Hale School in Perth and was a member of the WA Schoolboys team in 2006 and the WA U16s in 2005.
Haylett-Petty was captain of the Combined States team which competed at the Australian Schools Division I Championships in Canberra last week, having been a member of the WA Schoolboys side which won Division II Championships in Geelong a week earlier.
He has been selected in the Australia A Schools team to play the England U18s in the Gold Coast on 15 August.
Emirates Western Force Head Coach John Mitchell described both players as bright prospects with potential to go a long way in the professional game.
“Both James and Dane are very talented players who possess speed and agility, and a football sense almost beyond their years,” he said.
“They have the potential, if they remain focused and motivated, to go on and become special players.”
“For their benefit and the good of the Emirates Western Force, we will work hard to develop their game.”
RUGBYWA MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 10 July 2007
