Wales Under 18s head coach Richie Pugh has named his side to face Ireland U18 at Terenure College RFC in Dublin on Sunday (kick-off 1pm) - and he names Jack Woods, Ryan Jones and George Tuckley from Dragons Academy in the match day squad.
There are three changes to the starting XV which convincingly defeated Scotland last Sunday at Ystrad Mynach.
Bath Rugby’s Jack Harrison comes in at outside centre as the only change in the backs while RGC lock Tom Cottle and Gloucester openside flanker Caio James are the two changes in the pack.
Scarlets forward Alex Ridgeway has forced his way on to the bench after impressing as a replacement in Sunday’s early game.
Wales Development brushed aside their Scottish counterparts in the curtain raiser while Wales cut loose in the capped game against Scotland to dot down for six tries to offer Pugh plenty to ponder as he begins to trim this squad down to 26 for the fast approaching Six Nations festival being staged in Parma where Wales take on England, Portugal and France between March 30th – April 7.
“We know Ireland over the last decade have been one of the leading nations and that has passed down to their pathway system,” said Pugh. “You just have to look at the U20s and last year’s U18s, we know they are going to be a strong outfit. They have a good schooling system so it’s going to be a good challenge for the boys to travel across to Dublin.”
Heading to Ireland with double success safely tucked away from last weekend against the Scots, Pugh was impressed in the way the two squads came together to put in two sterling performances.
“There were lots of positives like the way the boys came together and showcased their talents,” he said.
“The score maybe didn’t reflect the effort Scotland put in – they did challenge us, but the boys were resolute in defence. We’ve got some work-ons that we will highlight to the boys when we meet up tomorrow but to be fair it was a good start to the campaign.
“It was also probably testament to the schools and colleges and the regional programme for the boys to slot in to our programme and perform the way they did. We have just got to keep building on that in Ireland and then England, Portugal and France when we’re away in Parma.”
Wales U18s v Ireland U18s, Sunday 10th March, Terenure College RFC, Dublin, KO 1pm
15 Jack Woods (Dragons RFC)
14 Tom Bowen (Bristol Bears)
13 Jack Harrison (Bath Rugby)
12 Steffan Emanuel (Bath Rugby – capt)
11 Joseff Jones (Cardiff Rugby)
10 Carwyn Jones (Scarlets)
9 Sion Davies (Cardiff Rugby);
1 Dylan James (Ospreys)
2 Ruben Cummings (Gloucester)
3 Jac Pritchard (Scarlets)
4 Sam Williams (Scarlets)
5 Tom Cottle (RGC)
6 Dom Kossuth (Scarlets)
7 Caio James (Gloucester)
8 Deian Gwynne (Scarlets)
Replacements
16 Thomas Howe (Cardiff Rugby)
17 George Tuckley (Dragons RFC)
18 Alex Bosworth (Gloucester)
19 Ryan Jones (Dragons RFC)
20 Alex Ridgway (Scarlets)
21 Tudur Jones (RGC)
22 Stef Jac Jones (Scarlets)
23 Lewis Edwards (Ospreys)
