Burnell: Defeating England U19 essential

Both teams are preparing for April’s IRB U19 World Championship and Wales U19 are looking to bounce back from defeat in France after an opening victory against Ireland U19.

Coach Justin Burnell admits: “I don’t think I’ll have to motivate the players too hard to want to beat England. We are preparing for the IRB U19 World Championship and you can never get away from that, but also you need wins to build confidence.

“We are mindful of the need to change the side. We are allowed twenty-six players at the World Championship and I would hope all twenty-six will have played before then. We learned from the loss in France and we will have to show character to bounce back now against England.”

Burnell believes the Academy structure is beginning to pay dividends in terms of producing talent, even if that has yet to result in IRB U19 World Championship success.

“We can play the likes of England, France and Ireland, but playing against New Zealand is a different kettle of fish and I do not think we are able to prepare the players enough,” said Burnell. “We would need to play against English first division sides to get the same level of physicality and experience.

“Yet a lot of things are changing, and have done over the last two years. There was not the influx of youngsters that there is now. Of last year’s Grand Slam winning Wales U19 team ten have already played Magners League rugby and all the rest are playing in the Principality Premiership.

“It is an exciting time, a lot of that is to do with the Academies; they are doing a major job at the development end of the game, more than a lot of people realise.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the success has to be down to the Academies. The work going into that is just unstoppable. In just my region, the Blues, seventeen of our Academy players have gone on to play regional rugby whereas in the past they would not have been considered ready.

“The Welsh Rugby Union have played a major part in that from the funding end.”