Head coach Richard Whiffin has confirmed his Wales Under-20 side to face Scotland in the penultimate round of the 2025 U20 Six Nations at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh this Friday. (kick-off 7.15pm, S4C) - and he names five Dragons in his match day squad.
Whiffin has made four personnel changes, as well as switching Tom Bowen from wing to full-back in a game where Wales will be seeking a third consecutive victory in the championship for the first time since 2017.
Fresh from his Dragons debut in the United Rugby Championship last Friday night against Zebra Parma, Harri Ford gets a first start of the campaign, with Harri Wilde dropping down to the bench.
Cardiff Rugby’s Elijah Evans replaces Osian Roberts at outside centre with Harry Rees-Weldon returning to the starting line-up on the wing, enabling Bowen to switch to full-back.
Deian Gwynne also returns to the starting squad in place of Dan Gemine, after missing the last game against Ireland through injury.
“We really feel we’re starting to build some depth in the squad and the way we feel the game might go will suit certain players in different positions,” explained Whiffin.
“We want to be able to test the squad as we’re looking for a good performance obviously on Friday night but we’re also prepping for a world cup at the back end of the year so we need to know a little bit about our squad.”
Having made an impact from the bench against Italy and Ireland, Ford deservedly gets a chance to run the show from the outset against Scotland.
“To be honest with the 10s we knew they were going to job share the role and this is Harri Ford’s opportunity this week,” said Whiffin.
“He has been great off the bench and brings a different lens to the game. He has goal-kicked well but it’s very different to starting a game to finishing it so it will be interesting to see how he rises to the challenge.”
Despite Wales going into the game a slight favourite, Whiffin isn’t counting his chickens before they hatch.
“We're taking Scotland seriously as it is going to be a very tough challenge up there – we know any away game in the championship is going to be tough. Scotland will be desperate to get a win in their last home game of the Six Nations.
“They have a couple of key individuals who give them go forward so we will need get on top of them so we collectively can put our own game plan into action.”
Wales U20 v Scotland U20, Hive Stadium Fri 7 March, 7.15pm
15 Tom Bowen (Cardiff Rugby)
14 Harry Rees-Weldon (Dragons)
13 Elijah Evans (Cardiff Rugby)
12 Steff Emanuel (Cardiff Rugby)
11 Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears)
10 Harri Ford (Dragons)
9 Logan Franklin (Dragons)
1 Ioan Emanuel (Bath Rugby)
2 Harry Thomas (Scarlets)
3 Sam Scott (Bristol Bears)
4 Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
5 Tom Cottle (RGC)
6 Deian Gwynne (Gloucester)
7 Harry Beddall (Leicester Tigers) (c)
8 Evan Minto (Dragons)
Replacements
16 Evan Wood (Cardiff Met)
17 Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears)
18 Owain James (Dragons)
19 Luke Evans (Exeter Chiefs)
20 Caio James (Gloucester)
21 Sion Davies (Cardiff Rugby)
22 Harri Wilde (Cardiff Rugby)
23 Elis Price (Scarlets)
“To be honest with the 10s we knew they were going to job share the role and this is Harri Ford’s opportunity this week...
