Wales head coach Richard Whiffin has named his matchday 23 to face France at Cardiff Arms Park, for the penultimate round clash of the 2024 Under 20 men’s Six Nations championship on Thursday. (KO 7.45pm, S4C).
For the first time of the campaign, he has made changes to the backline, albeit injury forcing his hand.
Scarlets Macs Page replaces Louie Hennessey in the centre while RGC’s Harri Ford takes over from Harri Wilde at fly half.
Up front, Kian Hire returns at tighthead prop with Sam Scott dropping down to the bench while Osian Thomas switches from the back row to the second row.
The back row is rejigged with Lucas de la Rua moving from No 8 back to blindside flanker with Ospreys’ Morgan Morse returning to the side at the back of the scrum with Scarlets’ Luca Giannini earning his first start of the campaign at blindside.
Three players, Tom Golder, Ellis Price and Aidan Boschoff, could all earn their first Wales U20 caps from the bench.
Seeking their second scalp of the campaign after beating Scotland in the opening round, Whiffin is fully aware of the daunting prospect that awaits his young side.
“In loose play they are outstanding – they have some big strong carriers that will try and get them go forward and they possess good off-loading skills throughout the team. If we kick poorly they will be a threat but we have a game plan where we think we can challenge them aerially and on the ground.
“They are a very strong team, they have a lot of boys playing in the Top 14 and Pro D2 and we know whatever team they put out will be a tough challenge but it’s one we are looking forward to as we think there are good opportunities there for us to hurt them.
“We’re pumped about getting back to Cardiff where we hope to get some good energy in the stadium over the next two games. Hopefully we can play a brand of rugby to get the fans excited,” added Whiffin.
Wales U20s v France U20s, Cardiff Arms Park, Thursday 7th Match, KO 7.45pm
15 Huw Anderson (Dragons RFC)
14 Harry Rees-Weldon (Dragons RFC)
13 Macs Page (Scarlets)
12 Harri Ackerman (Dragons RFC – capt)
11 Walker Price (Dragons RFC)
10 Harri Ford (RGC)
9 Ieuan Davies (Bath Rugby);
1 Josh Morse (Scarlets)
2 Harry Thomas (Scarlets)
3 Kian Hire (Ospreys)
4 Nick Thomas (Dragons RFC)
5 Osian Thomas (Leicester Tigers)
6 Lucas de la Rua (Cardiff Rugby)
7 Luca Giannini (Scarlets)
8 Morgan Morse (Ospreys)
Replacements
16 Will Austin (Sales Sharks)
17 Jordan Morris (Dragons RFC)
18 Sam Scott (Midlands Central)
19 Tom Golder (Harlequins)*
20 Will Plessis (Scarlets)
21 Rhodri Lewis (Ospreys)
22 Ellis Price (Scarlets)*
23 Aidan Boschoff (Bristol Bears)*
*Uncapped
Fireberry
Alec Stewart was born on 8/4/63, and the number of test runs that he scored in his career was 8,463.
Alley Fiend
Sport Trivia: Who was the first South African driver win the F1 Grand Prix championship? Answer: Jody Scheckter. Jody Scheckter\’s F1 debut was with McLaren in 1972. He then had his first full season in F1 with Tyrell in 1974. In 1977 & 1978 he drove for Wolf. In 1979 he drove for Ferrari, going on to win the F1 championship that year. He also won his tenth and last GP, the Italian that year. He was one of only two drivers to ever race with the number 0, the other being Damon Hill.