Wales A team returns next season

Wales will play A team fixtures next season for the first time since 2002, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive Martyn Phillips confirmed today.

The Wales A team will be used for player development and is expected to provide a missing link for future internationals who have the potential to step up from regional, club or U20s rugby.
The news comes as further details emerge of a wider four year strategy developed by Phillips, Warren Gatland and the Wales national squad coaches and

WRU head of performance Geraint John which points towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, but is also designed to safeguard the future of the game in Wales.

The strategy sees the entire national squad coaching team commit their futures to Wales until 2019 and also targets ways to strengthen the domestic game, including a half-million-pound increase to funding for National Dual Contract (NDC) players.

“We are serious about retaining and repatriating key players, the players know that, and we agreed with the regions in December to increase the NDC pot by £500,000,” said Phillips.

“But outside of the national squad we know we simply don’t have the required strength in depth and the only way we are going to improve that is by exposing players to situations they find difficult.

“We will reconstitute the Wales A team for next season and believe getting these fixtures up and running can help both ourselves and the regions by exposing the next cadre of players to a different, higher level of competition.

“If we can identify at Under 20 level and upwards those players who can handle the intensity, and help to improve those who can’t just yet, we can actually move forward quite rapidly.

“They will be Six Nations fixtures to start with, but we have an open mind over other opponents.

“We will pick teams where we are giving players an experience, where it is from a travel or intensity perspective.

“A big part of the job is making sure that the Wales A team and Under 20s are about development and then winning, but in that order.

“We also have to give the confidence and support to the coaches so they realise we are OK with that.”

The last competitive fixture for a Wales A side was in 2002, when the likes of Shane Williams and Tom Shanklin featured in a team coached by Mike Ruddock in the Six Nations “A” tournament.
The side also has a history of playing matches against touring sides, the last being a 34–15 defeat to South Africa in 2000 and Geraint John, the man in charge of player development at the WRU, sees it as a vital stepping stone for players.

“The A team will provide the missing link for some players and ultimately improve the depth of talent available to both the national squad and to the regions,” said John.

“The matches will be an opportunity for players to experience the intensity of the international experience and fill the gap between age grade rugby and the regional game and international competition.

“We will be looking for the next tranche of players who will be coming through beyond 2019 and the A team will be a rich development area for us.”