WRU Regional Championships Preview

Welsh rugby has undergone significant change in recent months both on and off the field. Tomorrow night, the governing body’s latest and potentially most exciting concept will go under the spotlight when the WRU Reebok Regional Championships kick off.

At a time when junior rugby has been given a significant facelift by the WRU, the competition will take centre stage as the four regions do battle at Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 levels.

And the man who is backing the initiative is Wales great and former international scrum half and captain Rob Howley.

Howley, who is currently battling against a serious wrist injury, has been named as the competition’s ambassadorial figurehead and the 59-times capped former Cardiff and Bridgend scrum half believes the inception of such a competition will help kick start a new era for the national game.

Howley, who is still coming to terms with the news that his summer surgery has yet to cure the longstanding problem, enjoyed significant success at junior level.

Now, the London Wasp, is already tipping the tournament to bring the game renewed success – at all levels.

“I am always exited when I see a new idea coming to fruition,” said Howley. “Looking from the inside, I think the initiative is potentially explosive and I can imagine that those working with Wales, at all levels, must be delighted with the Union‘s decision to build such a positive platform.

“When Reebok asked me to become an ambassador for the competition, I didn’t hesitate in saying yes. Obviously things have not gone too well for me personally over the past few weeks, but the disappointment of not playing hasn’t detracted from the satisfaction I get from being involved with this.

“Until I can start training again properly, I am going to have plenty of time on my hands, so I am hoping to come down and see how the respective sides are shaping up. I’m not going to put myself in the firing line by tipping one of the regions to do well or to put my weight behind my old region in Cardiff. Having said that I will be keeping an eye out for the young scrum halves above anything else.

“It’s always good to see young players coming through and I think this idea will ensure that players are not lost to the system like Gareth Thomas was for a couple of years in his teens. On top of that, I think Mike Ruddock will see it as a way of fast-tracking young players into the senior national squad.”

At under 16 level, the competition kicks off with the Blues, split into north and south, entertaining the Scarlets and Ospreys respectively at Aberdare and Pentyrch.

The under 18s will host the Dragons – with the Ospreys travelling to Stradey Park to meet the Scarlets – whilst on Wednesday the under 20s take centre stage with the Dragons and Blues meeting head on at Ebbw Vale and the Scarlets making the short trip to the Talbot Athletic Ground to face the Ospreys.

Teams for this week

Under 16
Blues South U16 v Ospreys U16 – Pentyrch, 7pm

Blues South C Llewellyn; L Collier, B Warburton, A Foley, J Egan; P Williams (capt), R Dyer; G Spears, S Barry, L Griffin, L Rappa, E Morris, R Watts-Jones, M Cerelli, S Warburton

Replacements: P Jones, S Spavin, C Holcum, C Hearne, W Williams, J Bird, G Price

Ospreys: L Halfpenny; S Davies, T Williams, L Phillips, L Osowicz; D Biggar, R Webb; R Bevington, D Ronan (capt), A Minnifey, N White, T Hicks, S Evans, A Bale

Replacements: N Jones, N Damjanovic, S Soul, J Evans, O Phillips, J Griffiths, K Joseph

Blues North U16 v Scarlets U16 – Aberdare, 7pm

Blues North: L Davies; B Powell, A Reed, O Lewis, M Powell; J Hughes, G Lucas; T Price, R Williams, S Andrews, J Edwards, M Alazawi, A Macey, R James, C Dacey

Replacements: S Parry, N Rees, A John, J Thomas, C John, L Collins, M Palmer

Scarlets: D Evans; M Lemon, R De Fillipo, A Jones, G Peachment; D Newton, M Gibson; T Wyn, R Guest, K Jones, L Jones, H Pugh, J Spurnway, N Cudd, M Evans

Replacements: R Lane, A Tomason, N Murphy, D Jenkins, M Williams, P Evans, G Amos

Under 18
Blues v Dragons – Sardis Road, 7pm

Blues: K James; K Hendrickson, G Baldwin, J Gough, J Bird; C Ballor, L Scarf; S Thomas, M Jones, K Jenkins, O Swindell, B Davies, J Groves, D Franks, M Larson

Replacements: G Williams, A Fowler, P Palmer, J Downes, M Gardner, C Ashton, AN Other

Dragons: C Vitalini; W Cunliffe, A Smith, G Maule, J Norris; R Jones, R Lewis; W Griffiths, N Williams, G Price-Jones, A Brown, S Tamplin, E Matthews, B Flower, L Evans

Replacements: J Corsi, J Leek, D Crandon, T Organ, R Turner, M Johnstone, G Bush

Scarlets v Ospreys – Stradey Park, 7pm

Scarlets: R Priestland, K Davies, S Martin, J Davies, R Thomas; M Thomas, D Allinson; H Gustaffason, L Phillips, D Griffiths, B Harris, J Turnbull, A Jenkins, D Jones, K Owens

Replacements: T Slater, E Phillips, L Spurway, L Reed, C Easy, J James, R Williams

Ospreys: G Whittaker; D Pike, A Wilkins, D Watts, J Challenger; N Roberts, C Morgan; L Williams-Jones, M Breeze (capt), G Cunniffe, M Thomas, R Kelly, S Kiley, L Simms, J Jones

Replacements: L O’Brien, D Clancey, J Howells, I Watkins, R Lawrence, S Evans, K Moore

Under 20
Dragons U20 v Blues U20 – Eugene Cross Park, 7pm

Dragons: L Pearson; C Jones, G Ferguson, G Callow, D Robinson; S Mills, A Walker; N Downes, S Vokes, R Wilkes, G King, S Morasco, P Sargeant, R Nash, J Lydiate

Replacements: C Morgan, S Thomas, J Farthing, J Juene, R Cornock, A Morgan, K Mahoney

Blues: M McClean; N Gill, G Evans, T Riley, G Williams; D Flanagan, D Walsh; N Trevett, D Goodfield (capt), P Osborne, S Wadham, W Jones, A Murphy, R Shellard, A Powell

Replacements: T Dickens, G Williams-Davies, J Roberts, C Dicomedies/J Connors, G Jones, D Evans, M Bailey

Ospreys v Scarlets – Talbot Athletic Ground, 7pm

Ospreys: A Bramwell; N Trowbridge, C Tossel, D Watts, M Jeffreys; J Dixon, N Griffiths; G Lynch, B Gant; C Mitchell, A Jones (capt), M Collins, D Lloyd-Jones, R Cridland, B Lewis

Replacements: S Allen, J Spratt, A James, R Jones, D Apsee, S Leach, R Gierat

Scarlets: R Davies; D Daniel, E Williams, G Evans, S Davies; A Thomas, L Davies; I Jones, H Devonald, D Thomas, D Day, K Davies, R McCusker, S Phillips, C Everett

Replacements: C Evans, L Marsh, M Davies, D Edwards, D Halpin, R Jones, L Williams