Williams to captain Wales U20

Young Ospreys centre, Kieran Williams, will lead Wales U20 this weekend, taking over from his injured regional team-mate, Will Jones.

The 19-year old has been one of the competition's stand-out players, scoring five tries in the campaign so far, including a brace against the Irish last weekend, and he takes over from openside flanker Jones for the match against France in Stade Sapiac in Montauban on Friday (20:05 GMT).

Wales have made four changes from the team that won against Ireland.

Two of the changes are in the backs, with Ospreys scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams and centre Ioan Nicholas both returning to stake their claim. In the forwards, tighthead Steff Thomas gets his first start in the front row, whilst James Botham will pack down on the openside in place of Jones.

"By Friday we'll have involved 31 players throughout this U20 Six Nations campaign, which was always one of our aims," Head Coach, Jason Strange says.

"It's to the whole squad's credit that the team has performed consistently well despite those changes and, better yet, have shown improvements in each game." 

A stunning 41-24 victory against Ireland last Saturday at Parc Eirias followed a 65-34 win in Scotland. From the start of the tournament, Strange outlined a desire for his squad to play an exciting, attack-orientated brand of rugby. After 18 tries and 154 points from the first four rounds, he hasn't been disappointed.

"We've been delighted with our results, but it's been more pleasing for us as coaches to see the progress they're making as a team," believes Strange, who says he wants his side to play without fear. "Getting more game time for players in the squad is invaluable too. We expect France to be very physical. It's another huge challenge for our players, but one they'll look forward to.

"Will has done a great job of captaining the team to date, so it's unfortunate that he's been ruled out this weekend. Keiran has been in tremendous form and is a natural leader too, so I'm looking forward to seeing him in that role on Friday." 


Wales U20 team to face France U20

15 Rhun Williams (Cardiff Blues)

14 Corey Baldwin (Scarlets)

13 Ioan Nicholas (Scarlets)

12 Keiran Williams (c) (Ospreys)

11 Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets)

10 Ben Jones (Cardiff Blues)

9 Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys)

1 Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues)

2 Corrie Tarrant (Cardiff Blues)

3 Steff Thomas (Scarlets)

4 Alex Dombrandt (Cardiff Met)

5 Sean Moore (Pontypridd)

6 Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues)

7 James Botham (Cardiff Blues)

8 Aled Ward (Cardiff Blues)

 

Replacements

16 Ellis Shipp (Newport Gwent Dragons)

17 Tom Mably (Cardiff Blues)

18 Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Blues)

19 Jack Pope (Bridgend)

20 Sid Blackmore (Bath)

21 Dane Blacker (Cardiff Blues)

22 Arwel Robson (Newport Gwent Dragons)

23 Owen Lane (Cardiff Blues)