Wales have named their side for their first U18 International of the season, against France on Sunday at the Stade de L’Escale in Lyon (2pm kick off).
Sunday’s game is followed by a game against England U18, at Ebbw Vale, on Sunday 26th March. England are currently two from two, so Wales will want to hit the ground running against France ahead of that one.
The team includes a number of players based in England, with Millfield’s Rhys Davies in the second row, his second year of U18 International Rugby, and Wellington College’s Dylan Moss, who is actually tied to the Ospreys, starting at outside centre.
Hartpury College’s Moran Nelson is also based in England, the Hereford based man is on the bench covering hooker.
Head Coach Geraint Lewis, when speaking to Welsh Rugby, spoke of wanting to give everyone is his squad an opportunity:
“We want to give opportunities to as many of the squad as possible in order to expose them to international-level rugby, there’s a huge emphasis on development here, and this will be the players’ first proper season of international rugby. We’ll get a better understanding of their abilities through this prolonged period of training and games.”
“Observing the way the regional age grades have played leading into this weekend’s game, it’s been great to see how positive their approach is.”
“We want to see evidence of what we’ve practised in our sessions together, embedding how we want to play,” he says. “You only need to look at how many former U18 players are currently starring for our U20 team to recognise the importance of this phase of the players’ development.”
France U18 v Wales U18 – Sunday 19th March, Stade de L’Escale, Lyon (2pm kick off)
Wales U18 XV:
15 Tomi Lewis (Llandovery College), 14 James McCarthy (Caerleon Comprehensive), 13 Dylan Moss (Wellington College), 12 Callum Carson (Gower College), 11 Corey Howells (Newport HS), 10 Ben Thomas (Cardiff and Vale College), 9 Harri Morgan (Llangynwyd), 1 Jordan Walters (Neath Port Talbot), 2 Will Griffiths (Coleg Gwent), 3 Josh Reynolds (Newport HS), 4 Rhys Davies (Millfield), 5 Will Griffiths (c) (Gowerton), 6 Alun Lawrence (Coleg y Cymoedd), 7 Dan Davis (Coleg Sir Gar), 8 Lennon Greggains (Newport HS).
Replacements: 16 Morgan Nelson (Hartpury College), 17 Rhys Davies (Coleg Sir Gar), 18 Llyr Green (Coleg Sir Gar), 19 Lewis Ellis Jones (Coleg Sir Gar), 20 Joe Miles (Cardiff and Vale), 21 Dan Babos (Croesyceiliog), 22 Cai Evans Ospreys (Cowbridge Comprehensive), 23 Ben Cambriani (Gower College).
Travelling Reserves: 24 Ben Warren (Coleg y Cymoedd), 25 Dewi Cross (Neath Port Talbot).
