The IRB Junior World Championship 2008 may still be six months away, but the host nation Japan will this weekend start the selection process for the Under 20 side to fly the flag on home soil in June.

Sixty-six players have been named in a training squad by the Japan Rugby Football Union to start preparing for the 5-21 June tournament, when the hosts will face England, Samoa and Scotland in Pool B in Tokyo.

The first selection camp takes place in Fuchu in western Tokyo from 20-23 December, with the second being held at the Tatsumi no Mori training facilities in the Japanese capital from 2-5 February.

Once the squad is reduced after these camps, the preparations step up with a 10-day camp in Kagoshima in February, followed by a 17-day camp including a development tour to Wales.

This will be followed by further camps in late April and mid May before the final squad come together a week before the IRB Junior World Championship to 2009 as Japan hope to improve on their 15th place finish in the inaugural event in Wales.

Quartet return for South Africa trials

South Africa coach Eric Sauls will also have a chance to see his country's best Under 20 players close up when they attend the next series of trials and training camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria from 18-25 January.

Under Sauls' guidance, South Africa finished third at the 2008 event behind champions New Zealand and runners up England after losing to the latter 26-18 in the semi finals at Cardiff Arms Park.

Four members of the 2008 squad will return to the fold in January in second row Cornell Hess, fly halves Francois Brummer and Josias Ebersohn along with wing Omphile Seabela.

South Africa are the top seeds in Pool C in the 2009 tournament and will face France - who finished sixth in the inaugural tournament - along with Italy and Fiji in Osaka.

South Africa Under 20 squad:
Gideon Helberg, Gerhard van den Heever, Yondela Stampu, Omphile Seabela, Francois Brummer, Tendayi Chikukwa, Wilhelmus Nel, Marnus Schoeman, Cornell Hess, Andries Ferreira, Mlungise Bali, Pieter Rossouw de Klerk, Sampie Mastriet,  Josias Ebersohn, Lionel Cronje, Christoffel Phillip van der Walt, Trevor Nyankane, Jakob Taute, Riaan Arends, Elton Jantjies, Rudy Paige, Jacobus Albertus Kriel, David Bulbring, Caylib Oosthuizen, Eugene Cunha, Andre Esterhuizen, Evan Richter, Faizel de Bruin, Wynand Pienaar, Xolane Mnisi, Ross Cronje, Meyer Swanepoel, Lambert Groenwald, Kenechukwu Okafor, Julian Redelinghuys, Kyle Cooper, Dale Chadwick, Nicolaas Hanekom, Johann Sadie, Johannes Engelbrecht, Yaasir Hartzenberg, Sidney Tobias, Ruan-Henry Smith.