** Please note: Friday's Under-20 Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland in Colwyn Bay will go ahead but will be played behind closed doors **
Five Dragons feature in the match day squad as Wales head coach Gareth Williams makes two changes to the starting XV for Friday’s U20 Six Nations clash against Scotland at Stadiwm Zip World (kick-off 7.35pm).
Scarlets hooker Dom Booth reclaims the No2 shirt while Bristol Bears’ Ioan Lloyd replaces an injured Jacob Beetham at full-back.
Dragons aces Aneurin Owen and Ben Carter both start the game while regional team-mates Will Griffiths, Ed Scragg and Dafydd Buckland are named among the replacements.
Wales are aiming to finish the campaign with a third consecutive victory after losing their first two games against Italy and Ireland.
The young Welshmen have recovered well to record wins against France and England but Williams is still expecting a tough battle against the Scots.
“The challenge this week is to recover quickly from the England game and keep that momentum going against a very good Scottish side,” he said.
“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.”
After a disappointing start to the campaign, Williams has been impressed with the character and determination of his side to hit back with notable scalps against France and England.
“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,” added Williams.
Wales U20: 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 – CAPT), 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)
The challenge this week is to recover quickly from the England game and keep that momentum going against a very good Scottish side...
