Wales have named an 'exciting side' to face New Zealand in their opening U20s World Rugby Championship fixture this Saturday as they look to put a Six Nations whitewash behind them.
After their opening game against New Zealand in Paarl in the Western Cape of South Africa this Saturday, Wales face matches against Japan and France as the world's showpiece age-grade tournament returns for the first time since 2019.
Ospreys hooker Lewis Lloyd is handed his first start, while Evan Hill, Seb Driscoll and Harri Wilde are set for debuts off the bench.
There are a few changes from the side that finished the U20s Six Nations in Oyannax back in March, with Archie Hughes, Harri Houston and Louie Hennessey starting.
“It’s an exciting side which I think has a lot of potential,” said head coach Mark Jones. “It’s a case of if that team can click and we can get the cohesion we want, it is a good-looking team.
“The attitude of the boys has been excellent; they have really committed to the stuff we’ve been working on and they have shown quality a lot of the time but we know we have ground to make up.”
Having lost all five games, Wales finished bottom of this year's Six Nations. Since then, head coach Byron Hayward has left his role, with former Wales wing Jones stepping in to the breach.
And, despite the whitewash earlier in the year, the former Scarlets and Crusaders coach says he's been impressed with what he's seen so far.
“We have to be underdogs based on where we finished last time in the Six Nations and we’ve had no warm up games so you are only as good as your last game," he added. "We are just focussed on our own performance.
“I’m expecting a pretty high-speed ball carrying game against New Zealand, particularly through their forwards and their wings who are very prominent in their carry game. So, we are very aware of that so the challenge is trying to match that so we can get some control of the gain line.
“Performance is the most important thing for us. You get confidence from what you do.
“If we perform well and we see aspects of our game which we’ve spent time on coming through and giving us growth in our game clearly it is going to lend itself to the boys kicking on later on in the tournament when things get difficult around schedule, players having to play every five games in 25 days for example.
“The big focus is on ourselves - we’re just looking to be the best that we can be and then obviously take it from there.”
Wales U20s: Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby); Llien Morgan (Ospreys), Louie Hennessey (Bath Rugby), Bryn Bradley (Harlequins), Harri Houston (Ospreys); Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Archie Hughes (Scarlets); Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths (Dragons), Lewis Lloyd (Ospreys), Ellis Fackrell (Ospreys), Liam Edwards (Ospreys), Jonny Green (Harlequins), Ryan Woodman (Dragons - capt), Lucas De La Rua (Cardiff Rugby), Morgan Morse (Ospreys).
Replacements: Sam Scarfe (Dragons), Josh Morse (Scarlets), Louis Fletcher (Ospreys), Evan Hill (Ospreys), Seb Driscoll (Harlequins), Tom Florence (Ospreys), Harri Wilde (Cardiff Rugby), Harri Williams (Scarlets).
