Wales U20s head coach Byron Hayward has made six changes for Thursday night’s Six Nations clash with France in Colwyn Bay (8pm kick-off).
A number of the alterations for the Parc Eirias encounter are enforced in the wake of the 43-14 defeat to England up in Doncaster in the last round.
Skipper Alex Mann is suspended following his red card in that match, so Morgan Morse steps in at No. 8 for his first start, with centre Joe Hawkins taking over the captaincy.
Dulais Valley Youth and Ospreys pathway product Morse only turned 17 in January and is still at school.
A dynamic carrier and a physical presence in the contact area, he has already impressed off the bench during this campaign, scoring the bonus -point try against Scotland.
He will be joined in the back row by Swansea University’s Ben Gregory, who replaces injured Bath flanker Tom Cowan (shoulder) at No. 6.
Another student, Cardiff Met’s Joe Cowell, comes in at loosehead prop with Rhys Barratt away with Dai Young’s Cardiff in South Africa, while the 17-year-old Ryan Woodman is recalled in the second row now he is fit again.
The Ospreys’ Tom Florence gets his first start of the campaign on the wing, with Harlequins’ Bryn Bradley drafted into the centre alongside new skipper Hawkins.
Outside-half Dan Edwards is ruled out of the 23 after damaging his ankle in training, while scrum-half Archie Hughes is with the Scarlets in South Africa and Exeter second row Dafydd Jenkins is also unavailable.
Explaining the appointment of Ospreys centre Hawkins as skipper, Hayward said: “He’s the obvious choice for us.
“He has been a leader since the day he came here.
“He’s seasoned, it’s his third year with the U20s.
“He has got something like 15 caps and, in terms of experience, he has played at regional level as well.
“When I asked him, he was all for it. He really relished the opportunity and he’s good to go.”
Looking ahead to the challenge presented by France, Hayward said: “We will have to match them physically because once they build momentum and get one or two quick gain lines then it’s very difficult to stop them, so our focus point it so stop it at source.
"Their biggest threat is their set piece – I think they have stolen the most lineouts in the tournament and they have a strong scrum so they will look to dominate up front.
"They’re big and on average have 16 off-loads a game and that would be the highest in the tournament by quite some way.
"They are obviously a very direct team, and they look to win collisions, they flood the line with support players to keep the continuity in the game through the offloads."
Wales U20s: Iestyn Hopkins (Ospreys); Harri Houston (Ospreys), Bryn Bradley (Harlequins), Joe Hawkins (Ospreys, capt), Tom Florence (Ospreys); Jac Lloyd (Bristol), Morgan Lloyd (Dragons); Joe Cowell (Cardiff Met), Morgan Veness (Ealing Trailfinders), Adam Williams (Dragons), Benji Williams (Ospreys), Ryan Woodman (Dragons), Ben Gregory (Swansea University), Morgan Morse (Ospreys), Ethan Fackrell (Cardiff).
Replacements: Connor Chapman (Dragons), Cameron Jones (Ospreys), Nathan Evans (Cardiff), Lewis Jones (Ospreys), Ben Moa (Dragons), Harri Williams (Scarlets), Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby), Eddie James (Scarlets).
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