Wales have named their 32-man squad for the 2017 U20 6 Nations.
Wales won the Grand Slam last year, and Head Coach Jason Strange has selected seven players from that side, Kieron Assiratti, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Morgan Sienawski, Declan Smith, Kieran Williams, and Rhyn Williams.
The squad includes a number of players based in England, as well as players who have moved to Wales having been schooled in England, such as former Solihull full back Will Talbot-Davies. Gloucester’s Morgan Morris is selected among the forwards, as is Sedbergh leaver and current Newcastle Falcons second row Max Davies.
Davies’ former Sedbergh teammate, James Botham, currently at Cardiff Blues, has also been selected for a Wales squad, having recently been announced as part of the Wales 7s squad for the forthcoming Wellington 7s.
Speaking at the U20 squad announcement, Head Coach Jason Strange said:
”The players are excited to defend the trophy and work towards going beyond the achievement of previous years, our objective is to help the players work hard towards achieving this aim through adopting an exciting form of rugby. A bi-product of this will be the exposure of as many players as possible to the high standard of rugby that this international competition provides.”
“These players are being given the opportunity – most for the first time at U20 level – to experience the pressure of playing for their country in front of a huge audience. That’s something that can only be of great benefit to their future playing careers. Indeed, you only have to look at the amount of former U20 players in the Wales senior squad announced this week.”
Wales U20 Squad:
Forwards
Kieron Assiratti (Cardiff Blues), Callum Bradbury (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues), Chris Coleman (Newport Gwent Dragons), Max Davies (Newcastle Falcons), Alex Dombrandt (Cardiff Met), Will Jones (Ospreys), Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues), Tom Mably (Cardiff Blues), Morgan Morris (Gloucester), James Ratti (Ospreys), Morgan Sienawski (Cardiff Blues), Corrie Tarrant (Cardiff Blues), Steff Thomas (Scarlets), Ellis Shipp (Newport Gwent Dragons), Aled Ward (Cardiff Blues).
Backs
Corey Baldwin (Scarlets), Dane Blacker (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets), Connor Edwards (Newport Gwent Dragons), Joe Goodchild (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ben Jones (Cardiff Blues), Phil Jones (Ospreys), Cameron Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Ioan Nicholas (Scarlets), Arwel Robson (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jared Rosser (Newport Gwent Dragons), Declan Smith (Scarlets), Will Talbot-Davies (Newport Gwent Dragons), Kieran Williams (Ospreys), Rhun Williams (Cardiff Blues), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys).
Wales U20 6 Nations Fixtures:
Friday 3rd February: v Italy – Stadio Giovanni Mari, 19.00 (Live on S4C)
Friday 10th February: v England – Parc Eirias, 19.15 (Live on BBC2 Wales)
Friday 24th February: v Scotland – Broadwood Stadium, 20.30 (Live BBC Red Button)
Saturday 11th March: v Ireland – Parc Eirias, 18.30 (Live on S4C)
Friday 17th March: v France – Stade Sapiac, 21.00 (Live on BBC2 Wales)
