The inaugural U18 5 Nations Festival is set to begin at SGS Filton College tomorrow.

The tournament is being split between two Welsh grounds, St Helen’s and the Caerphilly Centre of Sporting Excellence, however the opening game between England U18 and Ireland U18 takes place at Filton College tomorrow, and can be seen live on www.englandrugby.com

The tournament sees England U18, Italy U18, Ireland U18, Scotland U18, and Wales U18 come together for three games each, those Italy’s third game is actually against England U18 ‘A’.

The tournament runs until Wednesday 6^th April, with matchdays on Thursday 24^th March, Friday 25^th, Tuesday 29^th, Saturday 2^nd April, and Wednesday 6^th April.

Following Thursday’s opener, host nation Wales take on Scotland at St Helen’s on Friday, before a double header in Caephilly on Tuesday, with Ireland playing Scotland, followed by Wales hosting Italy at 19.30.

Caerphilly then gets another double header on Saturday 2^nd April, with Italy playing Ireland in the morning, and England facing Scotland in the early afternoon.

The final round of games takes place on Wednesday 6^th, this time St Helen’s gets to host a double header. The first game will see England U18 A play Italy, before the tournament closes at 19.15 with Wales U18 v England U18.

During the U18 5 Nations Festival, the U18 Tri-Nations Festival at Ashbourne RFC in Dublin will also take place.

It features Ireland U18 ‘A’, England Counties U18, and France U18 Poles Espoires.

That tournament kicks off on Saturday 26^th March with Ireland U18 A v France U18 Poles Espoires, before England Counties U18 face the Frenchmen on Wednesday 30^th March.

That tournament closes on Saturday 2^nd April with Ireland U18 A v England Counties U18, meaning that on Saturday 2^nd April England will have three different representative sides at U18 level on show.

There is plenty of other junior international action on over the period too, with Scotland U19 playing their second of their back-to-back fixtures against Japan Schools on Sunday 27^th March at Meggetland in Edinburgh, a 13.00 kick off.

A new U16 competition, the Conwy International Festival in Wales is also set to take place over this Junior International period, with France U16 East, France U16 West, Italy U17, Italy U17 A, Scotland U16 Red, Scotland U16 Blue, and two Welsh U16 sides all coming together.

Matchdays take place on Sunday 3^rd April, Wednesday 6^th April, and Saturday 9^th April, with four matches per day, meaning that all eight sides will play on each matchday.

Junior International Fixtures (24^th March to 9^th April)

U18 5 Nations

England v Ireland – Filton College. 24^th March, 13.00 (live on www.englandrugby.com)

Wales v Scotland – St Helen’s, 25^th March, 14.30

Ireland v Scotland – Caerphilly, 29^th March, 17.15

Wales v Italy – Caerphilly, 29^th March, 19.30

Italy v Ireland – Caerphilly, 2^nd April, 11.00

England v Scotland – Caerphilly, 2^nd April, 13.30

England A v Italy – St Helen’s, 6^th April, 17.15

Wales v England – St Helen’s, 6^th April, 19.15

U18 Tri-Nations Series

Ireland U18 A v France U18 Poles Espoires – Ashbourne RFC, 26^th March, 14.00

England Counties U18 v France U18 Poles Espoires – Ashbourne RFC, 30^th March, 14.00

Ireland U18 A v England Counties U18 – Ashbourne RFC, 2^nd April, 14.00

U19 International

Scotland U19 v Japan Schools – Meggetland, 27^th March, 13.00

Conwy U16 International Festival

Sunday 3^rd April – Matchday 1

Wednesday 6^th April – Matchday 2

Saturday 9^th April – Matchday 3