New-look Wales U20 heads to Dublin

Wales U20 have made ten changes to their starting XV for Friday night’s game against Ireland in Donnybrook (19:15).

There are first starts in the U20 Six Nations tournament for Cardiff Blues duo Max Llewellyn (centre) and Owen Lloyd (lock), Scarlets wing Tommy Rogers and Dragons loosehead Josh Reynolds. Max Williams (Dragons) returns from injury as part of a heavyweight second row, whilst openside James Botham (Cardiff Blues) is also back in the international jersey for the first time since last summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship.

Cardiff Blues’ Ben Jones is back at fly-half, with Ospreys’ Cai Evans reverting to fullback as part of a back-three which also sees the return of Dragons wing Joe Goodchild. On the bench, prop Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets) and back Dafydd Smith (Cardiff Blues) could be in line for their first U20 caps.

Only fullback Evans, outside centre Callum Carson, scrum-half Harri Morgan, hooker Iestyn Harris, captain and blindside Tommy Reffell, and number eight Taine Basham remain from the starting line-up which faced England in Newcastle a fortnight ago.

“We started the tournament very positively with a good win against Scotland, and while the result was firmly in England’s favour in our last outing, we saw enough to be happy about going forward,” says head coach Jason Strange. “There’s a very good feeling in the camp, and with players coming in and out of regional rugby, we’ve been able to rotate the squad quite a lot.

“On Friday night we will have capped 24 new players, which is in keeping with our aim to give opportunities for players to stake a claim leading into this year’s World Rugby U20 Championship.”

Wales U20 team to face Ireland

15 Cai Evans (Ospreys)

14 Joe Goodchild (Dragons)

13 Callum Carson (Ospreys)

12 Max Llewellyn (Cardiff Blues)

11 Tommy Rogers (Scarlets)

10 Ben Jones (Cardiff Blues)

9 Harri Morgan (Ospreys)

1 Josh Reynolds (Dragons)

2 Iestyn Harris (Cardiff Blues)

3 Rhys Henry (Ospreys)

4 Owen Lloyd (Cardiff Blues)

5 Max Williams (Dragons)

6 Tommy Reffell (Leicester) (c)

7 James Botham (Cardiff Blues)

8 Taine Basham (Dragons)

Replacements

16 Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues)

17 Dewi Lake (Ospreys)

18 Kemsley Mathias* (Scarlets)

19 Jack Pope (Bridgend)

20 Morgan Morris (Ospreys)

21 Dan Babos (Dragons)

22 Ben Thomas (Cardiff Blues)

23 Dafydd Smith* (Cardiff Blues) *

Uncapped at U20 level