Wales have named their 27-man U18 squad for their tour of South Africa this month.
Wales will play South Africa Schools, South Africa Schools A, and Italy on tour, with England and France also touring at the same time.
There are a number of players in the squad based at English Schools, with Hartpury College duo Morgan Morris and Jordan Liney selected in the pack alongside Sedbergh’s James Botham. Meanhwile in the backline Will Davies of Solihull is once again selected and Wellington College’s Dylan Moss is called up to his first Welsh squad.
He is one of four new players in the squad, Cameron Lewis, Tom Mably, and Connor Lewis being the others.
Speaking ahead of the tour to www.wru.wales Head Coach Geraint Lewis said:
“The boys been working very hard to get ready for this tour and they are very much looking forward to it. We are making some strides individually and as a team so hopefully by the time we get out there we’ll be ready to take on South Africa.”
“At age grade level, this series is a great opportunity to experience different styles of rugby, and different cultures too. The focus of the tour is to get players ready for Under 20 international rugby next season, the players will hopefully learn a huge amount that they can take forward to the next level.
“South Africa is a great rugby playing nation, and their schools rugby is as strong as any nation in the world. They have only ever lost one game in this tournament and that was to a strong England side so we will need to be at our best to compete next Friday.”
On the English based players, Lewis said:
“It is pleasing to see the Welsh qualified players from outside Wales in our group. They are very proud to represent Wales, they add strength in depth to our squad and with a number of Under 18 aged players having already played for Wales U20, exposing more players to international rugby at this level can only help Welsh rugby in the long term.”
Wales U18 squad:
Backs:
Jared Rosser (Dragons/ Ebbw Vale/ Newport High School), Will Talbot Davies (Dragons / Solihull), Corey Baldwin (Scarlets/ Llandovery College), Joe Goodchild (Dragons/ Coleg Gwent/ Garndiffaith), Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets/ Sir Gar), Ben Thomas (Blues/ Cardiff & Vale Coll, St Peters), Dylan Moss (Ospreys/ Wellington College), Cameron Lewis (Blues/ Wattstown/ Cymoedd), Ben Jones (Blues/ Treharris/ Cymoedd), Phil Jones (Ospreys/ Gowerton/ Gowerton), Owain Leonard (Dragons/ Abergavenny / Gwynlliw), Dane Blacker (Blues/Cymoedd / Pontypridd);
Forwards:
Rhys Carre (Blues/ Cardiff/ Cowbridge), Connor Lewis (Blues/ Beddau/ Cymoedd), Harri Dobbs (Blues/ Cowbridge/ St Peters ), Tom Mably (Blues/ St Peter’s, Cymoedd), Jordan Liney (Ospreys/ Dunvant/ Hartpury), Corrie Tarrant (Blues/ Pontypridd/ Cymoedd), Christian Coleman (Dragons / Garndiffaith/ Newport High), Callum Bradbury (Blues/ Beddau/ Cymoedd), Will Griffiths (Ospreys/ Gowerton/ Gowerton), James Ratti (Ospreys/Aberavon/Gower), Max Williams (Dragons/ Newport High), Will Jones (Ospreys/ Penclawdd/ Gower), James Botham (Blues/ Sedburgh School), Joe Thomas (Dragons / Penallta / Coleg Gwent), Morgan Morris (Gloucester / Hartpury College)
Fixtures:
South Africa Schools – Friday 12th August, 16.00
Italy – Tuesday 16th August, 13.00
South Africa Schools A – Saturday 20th August, 16.00
