WALES AIM TO GO ONE BETTER THAN ENGLAND
The team is made up of players from the WRU Reebok Regional Championship and will face a tough challenge from the Australian side that triumphed over England Schools 24-12 at Gloucester last Friday.
It will then be the turn of Wales Under 19s to play Australia at Sardis Road on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
Wales Under 19 coach Justin Burnell said, “After winning in France earlier this season in a development game for the squad, this is another chance to measure ourselves against some of the best sides in the world.
“We have a really superb bunch of players involved with the Under 19 set-up and we have a great opportunity to see that talent during these two matches.
“We will use two squads of 23 players over the two matches but the players on the bench for Wales on Saturday December 10th will have started for the WRU Reebok Regional Select XV on the Tuesday. That shows our commitment to the development of this entire group of players.
“We have seen a huge improvement in players of this age group recently and that is due in large part to the fact that the Academy system is now up and running and producing results. The players’ fitness and skills have improved immensely and the fact that eighteen of these 38 players are playing senior rugby at this stage bodes very well for the future. Eleven of them including Bradley Davies at Cardiff, Ashley Smith and Robert Lewis at Newport and James Lewis at Ebbw Vale are playing their rugby in the Principality Premiership, while three – Hugh Gustafson, Ken Owens and Martyn Thomas are playing week in, week out for UWIC in Division One of the Asda Leagues and we have four players in Division Two. This can only be of benefit to their development as we look ahead to the Six Nations and the World Cup in Dubai in the Spring.
“We also owe a great deal to people like Dai Young who has freely offered his wealth of expertise in helping us out with scrum work.
“There are exciting times ahead and hopefully this will be evident with some good performances in these next games.”
WRU Reebok Regional Select XV v Australian Schools
Tuesday December 6, Llandovery, kick-off 7.15pm
Daniel Evans (Scarlets); Jimmy Norris (Dragons), Gareth Maule (Dragons), Luke Ford (Blues), Marcus Johnstone (Dragons); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Darren Allinson (Scarlets); Nicholas Eaves, Marc Breeze (Ospreys, capt), Kieron Jenkins (Blues), James Down (Blues), Adam Brown (Dragons), Sam Kiley (Ospreys), Lloyd Phillips (Scarlets), Matthew Larsen (Blues).
Replacements: Bryn Jenkins (Exiles), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Patrick Palmer (Blues), Gareth Williams (Blues), Marc Jones (Blues), Jonathan Jones (Ospreys), Jason Howells (Ospreys), Stephen Martin (Scarlets).
Wales Under 19s v Australian Schools
Saturday December 10, Sardis Road, kick-off 2.30pm
Martyn Thomas (Scarlets); Alec Jenkins (Scarlets), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Ashley Smith (Dragons), James Lewis (Dragons); Rhys Jones (Exiles), Robert Lewis (Dragons); Hugh Gustafson (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jamie Corsi (Dragons), Bradley Davies (Blues, capt), Lou Reed (Scarlets), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Daniel Franks (Blues), Lewis Evans (Dragons)
Replacements: James Down (Blues), Nicholas Eaves (Blues), Keiron Jenkins (Blues), Darren Allinson (Scarlets), Marc Breeze (Ospreys), Lloyd Phillips (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), AN Other