Horgan has handed Blues prop Sam Hobbs his first start, Dragons wing Jimmy Norris returns to the fold and Ospreys back row Justin Tipuric comes back into the starting line-up, this time on the openside.
WRU Video: U20 Head Coach Patrick Horgan looks ahead to France on Friday evening
Horgan said: “Sam deserved to start after performing well when he’s come on, and that change means we’ve been able to give 25 players starts in this campaign, which ties in with our policy to develop players while putting out a competitive side throughout the Championship.
“It’s important to finish the Six Nations on a high and a win over France would be a good building block for the Junior World Championship in June, when we face France again in our Pool.
“We are under no illusions about how good France are; they took us to town in a friendly last season and they have some very impressive players in their squad, Morgan Parra and Yann David gaining full international caps over the past few weeks. They also have a centre who plays regularly for Stade Francais. We’ve still got a long way to go but we are pleased with where we are at this stage in time.”
Wales U20 v France U20)
Friday 14th March 2008, 7.10pm, Rodney Parade
Wales U20: Daniel Evans (Scarlets); Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Gareth Owen (Ospreys), Jimmy Norris (Dragons); Daniel Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys); Sam Hobbs (Blues), Rhys Lawrence (Ospreys), Patrick Palmer (Blues), Haydn Pugh (Scarlets), Jevon Groves (capt, Blues), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Lloyd Phillips (Scarlets)
Replacements: Ryan Prosser (Bristol Academy), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Scott Andrews (Blues), Ashley Sweet (Dragons), Rory Pitman (Ospreys), Luke Evans (Blues), Jason Tovey (Dragons)
