I was waiting for someone to drop a definite figure on how old Rhys actually is, as it had totally slipped my mind and I didn't want to get it completely wrong on the next point.
So; as Steven has said, he's still 16 and that, more than anything is probably the reason he's not going yet, the selectors have "hidden" talented riders before and he's still got two more cracks at the junior team starting in 09. Riding his first Worlds with a full WC season under his belt (2 full seasons assuming he smashes it as hard as he's expected to this year and picks up another ride for 2009) will be a huge advantage for him.
As far as I can remember, Hill is the only guy who's gone with the team at 16 in recent years and even he didn't do that well (by his standards anyway, a lowly 3rd
) in that year.