Cardiff flanker Alex Mann will captain Wales U20s as they take on Ireland in their opening Six Nations fixture at Cork’s Musgrave Park on Friday night (8pm kick-off).
Mann is one of seven players in the match-day 23 who featured in last summer’s re-scheduled Championship campaign at Cardiff Arms Park, for which he was also at the helm.
The team selected by head coach Byron Hayward includes a group of players who have already had senior regional experience.
Full-back Cameron Winnett was a try-scorer for Cardiff in December’s Champions Cup clash with Harlequins, with Cardiff Met prop Joe Cowell having also featured for Dai Young’s team in Europe, while hooker Efan Daniel made his debut for them in last Saturday’s thrilling United Rugby Championship victory over Leinster.
No. 8 Ben Moa, the son of former Tongan Test prop Uiniati Moa, has figured for the Dragons A team this season, while also impressing for Ebbw Vale.
On the bench, you have centre Joe Hawkins who has made a number of appearances for the Ospreys.
He is joined among the replacements by Bristol’s Jac Lloyd, the younger brother of full Welsh international and club colleague Ioan.
Hayward is under no illusions at the task which awaits his team face in Cork.
"Ireland are always a strong side," he said. "They have a great system bringing players through. so it is going to be a massive challenge for us, but one we’re looking forward to.
"It’s simply just great to see how much the boys are looking forward to it - you can see it in the squad, they are so looking forward to just playing rugby in a meaningful game in front of a crowd.
"People forget that the players have lost nearly two years of their development and for a lot of the boys this could be their only chance of playing and representing their country.
"It has been difficult with the boys not playing [due to Covid] and that can become monotonous, especially when you haven’t got an end game.
"But we managed to get in two friendly games which was massive for us and I know the boys enjoyed them and performed well in them and all things considering, I’m looking forward to the weekend as much as the players."
He added: "All we’ve talked about this week is focusing on us and what we can control and that has been since the start of the week. We respect Ireland but we’re not really paying too much attention to them and just focusing on getting our game right."
Wales U20s: 15. Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby), 14. Harri Huston (Ospreys), 13. Bryn Bradley (Harlequins), 12. Eddie James (Scarlets), 11. Oli Andrew (Dragons), 10. Daniel Edwards (Ospreys), 9. Harri Williams (Scarlets), 1. Joe Cowell (Cardiff Met), 2. Efan Daniel (Cardiff Rugby), 3. Nathan Evans (Cardiff Rugby), 4. Joe Peard (Dragons), 5. Lewis Jones (Ospreys), 6. Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby, capt), 7. Ethan Fackrell (Cardiff Rugby), 8. Ben Moa (Dragons).
Replacements: 16. Morgan Vennes (Ealing Trailfinders), 17. Rhys Barratt (Cardiff Rugby), 18. Ellis Fackrell (Ospreys), 19. Benji Williams (Opsreys), 20. Tom Cowan (Bath Rugby), 21. Morgan Lloyd (Dragons), 22. Jac Lloyd (Bristol Bears), 23. Joe Hawkins (Ospreys).
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