Three Bay Of Plenty rugby players have been selected for a development camp to find a World Champion New Zealand under 20 team.

Benet Kumeroa, Cassius Misa, and Peni Lasaqa join 49 other players from around the country at the camp in Palmerston North next month

Those selected for the squad will compete at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Italy in July.

A new programme format has seen more than 100 players go through testing in November, giving selectors a tough job in narrowing the field of contenders to 52 for the first camp.

New Zealand under 20 Head Coach Craig Philpott says the new process got the 2020 campaign off to an exciting start.

'It's widened our base and created a really competitive environment. With that has come a good selection dilemma because outside the 52 we have named today, there are another 20 players on a shortlist that could easily have been selected.”

The development camp begins with expert coaches focussing on set-piece work with forwards, and a focus on game drivers for halfbacks, first five-eighth and fullbacks. An additional eight players will join triallists for these sessions.

The camp concludes with skillset testing, game plan development and scenarios.

A second trial camp will be held in April before a squad is named for the Oceania Under 20 Championship.