Dragons Academy fly-half Harri Ford says hosting Ireland U20s at Rodney Parade will be a “great experience” after kicking Wales U20s to victory against Italy in Treviso last Friday.
Ford kicked a touchline conversion and a penalty as his side dramatically won 20-18 against Italy U20s although they were fortunate to see Roberto Fasti pull his last gasp penalty wide.
While Wales rode their luck at times, they did well to overcome early Italian dominance and a 15-10 half-time deficit to win 18-20.
“It was a scrappy game,” said Ford. “To be fair you can’t fault the boys’ effort throughout the game.”
“I thought we all dug in and were a bit unlucky at the end to give away that penalty but then I’m glad the result came our way.
“I was looking at Dan Gemine who gave away the penalty and I think he was nearly crying. I was just hoping it didn’t go over and I’m glad it didn’t.
“I’ve been in that position before as a player, for and against and it’s not nice when it goes against you, but the best feeling when it goes for you.”
Despite the result going their way, Ford admits the need for Wales to lower their penalty count having fallen foul of the referee, meaning Wales were never able to pull out of reach.
“My heart was in my mouth the whole game,” said Ford.
“Our discipline really let us down in that game. If we were a bit more disciplined and honest with ourselves we could have put them to bed but we really made it difficult for ourselves with our discipline.”
Next up for Wales are Ireland on the 21st of February at Dragons RFC’s home of Rodney Parade.
The game offers an opportunity for Ford and fellow U20s players Harry Rees-Weldon, Logan Franklin, Owain James, Ryan Jones and Evan Minto to showcase their skills in front of their home fans.
“It’ll be a great experience to go to Rodney Parade,” said Ford.
“It’ll be a new experience for some of the U20s boys who’ve never been there before. Hopefully we will thrive and get the win there and coming off a win will really help.
“It’s two weeks now of us building, recovering and sharpening tools to get into them.”
After their first win away from home in five years, Wales U20s will be hoping the partisan crowd in Treviso can be replicated in Newport.
“It’s a great win away from home, I think the first win away from home for the U20s since 2020 so we’ll be very happy with that and build towards Ireland,” said Ford.
“There was a great crowd to be fair and a great experience to play in front of them.
“There’s quite a few young boys in our squad, 18-year-olds like [Dragons Academy player] Ryan Jones and I think they’ll learn a lot from the experience and they dug in really well.”
Wales U20 home fixtures for U20 Six Nations 2025
- Wales U20 v Ireland U20, Rodney Parade, Friday 21st February 2025, 7.45pm
- Wales U20 v England U20, Cardiff Arms Park, Friday 14th March 2025, 7.30pm
Tickets are from £12 for Adults and £6 for U18s and concessions - CLICK HERE TO BUY
It’ll be a great experience to go to Rodney Parade, it’ll be a new experience for some of the U20s boys who’ve never been there before. Hopefully we will thrive and get the win there and coming off a win will really help...
