Wales have named their side to take on Scotland in the only U20 Six Nations game of the weekend to be taking place.
The Friday night kick off in Colwyn Bay (7.35pm on S4C) is, as it stands, the last U20 Six Nations game standing this weekend, with the others postponed due to COVID-19.
Head Coach Gareth Williams has made two changes to the side that beat England last time out, and his young charges are looking for a third win in a row after a slow start against Ireland and Italy then saw them recover to beat France and England.
At full back Bristol Bears’ rising star Ioan Lloyd comes in, the former Clifton College star replaces the injured Jacob Beetham, meanwhile and hooker Dom Booth comes back into the starting lineup, with Will Griffiths moving back to the bench.
In terms of interest from the English side of the Severn, former Oakham star Sam Costelow is again in the fly half shirt and is once more partnered by former Bryanston scrum half Ellis Bevan, while Eastbourne College star Theo Bevacqua is once again at loosehed, with former Hampton star Gwilyn Bradley on the bench alongside Worcester Warriors’ Luke Scully.
Speaking to www.wru.wales ahead of the game, Gareth Williams said:
“The challenge this week is to recover quickly from the England game and keep that momentum going against a very good Scottish side, it will be good to finish the competition with that momentum but we know how difficult the challenge against Scotland will be. They have been excellent this season and probably haven’t got the results they have deserved.”
“They did a job on us last year and a lot of those players are returning so we are quite aware of what they are capable of. They have had consistency in selection this year so we have to make sure we are at the levels we were against France and England to keep that momentum going.”
“I think we’ve managed the two games very well, varied our game of when to run it, when to kick it and also played in the right areas of the pitch. We did that effectively in the last two games and came out on top when we really exerted pressure on two very difficult teams.”
“Keeping that level head is part of being a professional rugby player. We all want to be winning every game week in week out but resolve is a massive element of being a professional rugby player, dealing with the lows as well as dealing with the highs is a key part of the game and I think the boys have responded superbly.”
Wales U20 XV v Scotland – Friday, 7.35pm, Colwyn Bay (Live on S4C)
15 Ioan Lloyd (Bristol Bears), 14 Frankie Jones (Aberavon), 13 Bradley Roderick (Ospreys), 12 Aneurin Owen (Dragons), 11 Mason Grady (Cardiff Blues), 10 Sam Costelow (Leicester Tigers), 9 Ellis Bevan (Cardiff Met), 1 Theo Bevacqua (Cardiff Blues), 2 Dom Booth (Scarlets), 3 Ben Warren (Cardiff Blues), 4 James Fender (Ospreys), 5 Ben Carter (Dragons), 6 Ioan Davies (Cardiff Blues), 7 Jac Morgan (Scarlets, captain), 8 Morgan Strong (Ospreys).
Replacements: 16 Will Griffiths (Dragons), 17 Callum Williams (Scarlets), 18 Harri O’Connor (Scarlets), 19 Ed Scragg (Dragons), 20 Gwilym Bradley (Cardiff Blues), 21 Dafydd Buckland (Dragons), 22 Joe Hawkins (Ospreys), 23 Luke Scully (Worcester Warriors).
