With an earlier 33-13 victory under their belts against USA Under 17 in the Wellington Festival, the Welsh side found the going tougher against a combative French side yesterday. Wales were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat at halftime with France holding a commanding 24-0 lead.
Too many missed tackles in the first half handed the strong French side the initiative but in the second spell Wales showed plenty of spirit and resolve to hit back with tries by full back Luke Price, who scored just a minute after the re-start, and centre Lewis Morgan who dived over in the 72nd minute to eventually lose 24-10.
With Wales management having to manage two sets of players for the Wellington Festival and this capped match against England (the only full international of the season), the selection panel is confident they have chosen the strongest possible starting XV for the battle against the red rose army.
“The boys are looking forward to the England game as this is a culmination of a build up of this season’s work, where we have tried to implement some new national age grade protocols,” said a team manager Sophie Bennett.
Head coach Simon Davies, added: “The squad is fresh and excited – we’ve had a number of players making their debut this week. A total of 14 more players have now tasted rugby at this level with Dillon Lewis and captain Tom Phillips earning their third caps for the U16s.
“Preparation has gone well and the boys are excited to play and test themselves at the highest level. We’ve put in two good performances against USA and Canada and second half against France which has boosted confidence but we are still realistic about the task ahead against England.”
Wales Schools Under 16, v England Under 16 at Wellington College
15 Luke Price 14 Elis Wyn Benham 13 Joe Thomas (VC) 12 Tyler Morgan 11 Richard Singer 10 Daniel Jones 9 Kieran Hardy; 1 Harrison Walsh 2 Harry Roberts 3 Dillon Lewis 4 Joe Davies 5 Adam Beard 6 Jordan Viggers 7 Charlie Randell 8 Tom Phillips (Capt)
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher 17 Keagan Bale 18 Robert Lewis 19 Bradley Mais 20 Matthew Marley 21 Owen Davies 22 Callum Sheedy
