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Wales Online
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Jon Doel

Warren Gatland picks the little boy he met 10 years ago as brother made Wales debut

In November, 2013, an excited 11-year-old boy met Wales coach Warren Gatland in the bowels of the Principality Stadium after the international match against Argentina.

He was there to watch his big brother make his debut for Wales and was in awe of the whole occasion. One day, this could be him.

Ten years later, that day has arrived. The boy in the picture is Mason Grady, his bother is Cory Allen, and life is about to change.

Gatland has given the now 20-year-old the chance to show the world what he can do, having been thoroughly impressed with what he has seen from the centre in training over the past few weeks.

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"We have been impressed by him coming in. He's quick, he brings some physicality, he's still young," the Wales coach said.

"He's got some fantastic attributes in terms of what he can bring to the game. It's a great opportunity for him."

It comes a decade on from his brother's big day. Allen, of course, went on to play at a Rugby World Cup in a career that promised so much before the ravages of injury saw him forced to quit at the age of just 29 in December.

In an in-depth interview with WalesOnline, Allen has told his story of pain and pride, with Grady's debut a huge moment for the family.

“I could probably count on one hand how many of my games Mason missed,” he said.

“My parents would travel everywhere to watch and he would always be there.

“He didn’t miss hardly any games. He was at my first cap, which was ten years ago. We have got some photos of him and Gats back then. It’s nice to be able to watch him reach that point himself.

“Obviously there has been a lot of down side to me being injured the last three years, but one of the positives was I got to watch every one of Mason’s games which has been really nice.”

The family, particularly mum Julie, will be out in force at the Principality Stadium, on Saturday.

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