Wales head coach Richard Whiffin has named two Ospreys for Sunday’s Italy clash at Rodney Parade with two changes from the starting team which lost to Ireland in round four of the U20 Six Nations.
Lewis Edwards starts at full back and Dylan James is amongst the replacements as loose head cover.
Edwards has recovered from a lengthy injury lay-off to replace Rhys Cummings at full-back while Scarlets back row Dom Kossuth, who impressed as a replacement against the Irish, comes in for Dragons No 8 Evan Minto who suffered a knock at Virgin Media Park.
“Evan Minto took a bang on his shoulder, and I thought Dom Kossuth was outstanding coming off the bench so he comes in for his first start of the tournament and Lewis Edwards has battled back from injury pre-Christmas and he has been training well over the last couple of weeks, so he gets an opportunity,” said Whiffin.
Wales are looking to finish their campaign on a winning note to secure a second victory in this year’s championship, while Italy arrive seeking their first scalp so Wales are fully aware of the threat they pose.
"They contest every single breakdown and it is certainly something we need to fix from the Ireland game,” admitted Whiffin.
“We’ve reviewed how we can be better in that area and challenge there. They also have a strong pack and have a couple of key guys in the backline so they pose plenty of threats that we have to negate at the weekend.”
In last year’s championship, Wales were roared on to victory against Ireland in atrocious conditions by a vociferous Rodney Parade crowd and Whiffin is hoping for a similar response on Sunday.
“It was a fantastic occasion last year and it’s great we get to go back there – hopefully all the Gwent supporters will be out in force looking to back the boys and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about,” he said.
Wales U20 v Ireland U20, Virgin Media Park, Sat 7 March, KO 7.45pm
15 Lewis Edwards (Ospreys)
14 Dylan Scott (Cardiff Met)
13 Osian Darwin-Lewis (Cardiff Rugby)
12 Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff Rugby – co-capt)
11 Tom Bowen (Cardiff Rugby)
10 Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff Rugby)
9 Siôn Davies (Cardiff Rugby);
1 George Tuckley (Dragons RFC)
2 Tom Howe (Cardiff Rugby)
3 Jac Pritchard (Scarlets)
4 Luke Evans (Exeter Chiefs)
5 Osian Williams (Bristol Bears)
6 Deian Gwynne (Gloucester – co-capt)
7 Caio James (Gloucester)
8 Dom Kossuth (Scarlets)
Replacements
16 Oscar Thomas (Bath Rugby)
17 Dylan James (Ospreys)
18 Isaac Godfrey (Exeter Chiefs)
19 Oscar Rees (Gloucester)
20 Osian Williams (Scarlets)
21 Alex Ridgway (Bath Rugby)
22 Carter Pritchard (Dragons RFC)
23 Steff Jac Jones (Scarlets)
