London Welsh are the only Welsh team to have won the title since it first began in 2009/10. The Exiles were champions two seasons ago, while Cross Keys were finalists in 2011/12, but other than that the tournament has been the preserve of the Irish Provincial A teams and the English Championship clubs.
Munster A won the title for the second time last season, beating Jersey Reds in the final, and they will begin their defence against the Ospreys Prem Select XV at St Helen’s on Saturday, 14 October (2.30pm kick-off).
The Ospreys included two of this summer’s Wales Under 18 tourists to South Africa on the bench, the Bridgend Ravens duo of Cai Evans and Dylan Moss, and their side will be led by last season’s Wales Under 20 skipper Will Jones. There are also four other players from his Under 20 team included in the match day squad in Keiran Williams, Phil Jones, Morgan Morris and Reuben Morgan-Williams.
“It’s our third year playing in this competition now so there are boys in the squad who have had the experience and have started to grow over the last couple of years. It’s a really good opportunity for the youngsters involved to play a standard up and show what they’ve got,” said Ospreys Prem Select coach, Tom Smith.
“There’s a good few young backs on show, with a few boys making their debuts in the system and this competition. The team is fairly youthful as a whole and are really excited to get started.
“They’ve shown glimpses of what they can do at Premiership level, so it’s now time to see if they can do that at this level. Forward wise we’ve got some exciting talent that has been in and around the senior squad who we’ll be looking to put in good performances against new opposition.
“We haven’t really seen a lot of the Munster A team we are going to play but we expect them to play a lot like their first team which we all know is a really big challenge. We’ll obviously have to have our wits about us, but the fixtures that we’ve had against them in the past have been really exciting with both sides showing great intent to play rugby.”
It is a similar theme at the Scarlets, where Llandovery and Coleg Sir Gar head coach Euros Evans is in charge of a squad that reached the quarter-finals last season before going out 84-7 at Ealing Trailfinders. He has two of the Wales Under 18 forwards on his bench, Lewis Ellis-Jones and Dan Davis, and has three of last season’s Under 20s Ioan Nicholas, Ryan Conbeer and Steff Thomas in the side heading to Belfast to face Ulster A at Barnbridge RFC.
Evans, who has Carmarthen Quins head coach Richard Kelly and Llanelli’s Paul Fisher and Dai Flanagan assisting him, has picked Steff Hughes as his captain. The 23-year-old Scarlets centre was a member of the first Welsh Under 20 side to reach a Junior World Championship final in 2013 and captained the Under 20s in 2014.
“Despite having quite a young squad the majority of this group of players were involved in the competition last season and have experience under their belts. With that our expectations of what is expected from them will rise,” said Evans.
“Bringing a combined group together is never easy logistically easy. Our preparation time has been limited, however, the majority of these boys are professionals who train with the Region’s senior squad day in, day out and will be prepared for the challenges ahead in this competition.”
Bernard Jackman has also taken a punt on his youngsters in the Dragons Premiership Select Squad with three forwards from the Wales U18 team included. Lennon Greggains, Taine Basham and Will Griffiths are all included, as is 17-year-old wing Rio Dyer, while there are two Wales Under 20 caps from the 2016/17 campaign in Arwel Robson and Ellis Shipp.
Other than that the squad is a mix of experience from the Dragons camp and burgeoning talent from Principality Premiership clubs Bargoed, Bedwas, Cross Keys, Ebbw Vale and Newport. James Chapron is heading up a coaching team that includes Rhys Thomas, Chris Horsman and Zane Kirchner.
The Dragons kick off with a trip to the Athletic Ground, Richmond, to take on London Scottish. They also have last season’s beaten finalists, Jersey Reds, and Yorkshire Carnegie in their pool.
“London Scottish’s results probably don’t show a true picture of where they are, and they are going to be a real challenge for us. Bernard Jackman and his coaches have integrated B&I Cup training with the seniors, so we are at a decent level of intensity to give us the best possible chance,” said Chapron.
“We have Phil Price, Charlie Davies and Dorian Jones involved in this year’s campaign as our senior heads and the buy-in we’ve had from the Premiership clubs has once again been excellent. We’ve tried to pick a particular demographic to meet our development needs and the competition is a step up for everyone, so that can only make people better.”
Pontypridd head coach Justin Burnell will lead the coaching group for the Blues Premiership Select squad and he will have Matthew Rees and Llyr Lane working alongside him. His side opens with a classic Anglo-Welsh encounter against Bristol at Sardis Road on Saturday, 14 October (kick-off 2.30pm).
He has Ben Thomas, player of the tournament in South Africa for Wales Under 18 two months ago, on the bench and seven players who appeared for Wales Under 20 last season in his matchday 23. One of them, Morgan Sieniawski, will captain the side, while replacement full back Lloyd Rowlands is only six months on from helping Penallta win the WRU National Plate title at the Principality Stadium.
British & Irish Cup 2017/18
Pool 1: Bedford Blues, Munster A, Nottingham, Ospreys Prem Select
Pool 2: Bristol Rugby, Cardiff Blues Prem Select, Doncaster Knights, Leinster A
Pool 3: Dragons Prem Select, London Scottish, Yorkshire Carnegie, Jersey Reds
Pool 4: Connacht A, Rotherham Titans, Richmond, Ealing Trailfinders
Pool 5: Cornish Pirates, Hartpury, Scarlets Prem Select, Ulster A
Round 1 Fixtures
Nottingham v Bedford Blues
Ospreys Prem Select v Munster A
Doncaster Knights v Leinster A
Blues Prem Select v Bristol Rugby
London Scottish v Dragons Prem Select
Jersey Reds v Yorkshire Carnegie
Rotherham Titans v Connacht A
Ealing Trailfinders v Richmond
Hartpury v Cornish Pirates
Ulster A v Scarlets Select
Regional Premiership Select Teams / Squads
Players in italics are Wales Under 18 caps this year and those in bold are Under 20 caps
Ospreys Prem Select XV: Dafydd Howells; Tom Williams, Joe Thomas, Kieran Williams, Jay Baker; Phil Jones, Matthew Aubrey; Rowan Jenkins, Ifan Phillips, Rhys Henry, James Ratti, Matthew Dodd, Sam Cross, Will Jones (captain), Rob McCusker
Reps: Hugh Gustafson, Mitchell Walsh, Josh Cole, Morgan Morris, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Cai Evans, Dylan Moss
Scarlets Prem Select XV: Morgan Williams; Tom Prydie, Ioan Nicholas, Steff Hughes (captain), Ryan Conbeer; Rhys Jones, Declan Smith; Rhys Fawcett, Evan Yardley (RGC 1404), Javan Sebastian, Josh Helps, Jack Jones (Llandovery), Stuart Worrall (Llandovery), Shaun Evans, Jack Condy
Reps: Matthew Moore (Llandovery), Steff Thomas (Scarlets Academy), Lewis Ellis-Jones (Scarlets Academy), Dan Davis (Scarlets Academy), Alex Schwarz (RGC 1404), Jack Maynard, Billy McBryde
Blues Prem Select XV: Dan Fish (Blues); Owen Lane (Blues Academy), Harri Millard (Cardiff Blues), Will Rees-Hole (Cardiff), Dale Stuckey (Pontypridd); Ben Jones (Blues Academy), Dane Blacker (Blues Academy); Chris Phillips (Pontypridd), Ethan Lewis (Blues), Keiron Assiratti (Blues Academy), Sean Moore (Pontypridd), Ben Murphy (Merthyr), Sion Bennett (Blues), Morgan Sieniawski (Pontypridd, captain), Hemi Barnes (Pontypridd)
Reps: Ian Jenkins (Cardiff), Rhys Carre (Blues Academy), Luke Crocker (Cardiff), Osian Davies (Merthyr), Joel Raikes (Pontypridd), Ben Thomas (Blues Academy), Lloyd Rowlands (Pontypridd)
Dragons Prem Select XV: Josh Prosser (Cross Keys); Toby Fricker (Ebbw Vale), Chay Smith (Newport), Barney Nightingale (Dragons / Cross Keys), Rio Dyer (Dragons Academy); Dorian Jones (Dragons), Charlie Davies (Dragons, captain); Phil Price (Dragons), Ellis Shipp (Draghons / Bedwas), Keagan Bale (Dragons / Pontypool), Scott Andrews (Dragons / Cross Keys), Lance Randall (Ebbw Vale), Ben Roach, Scott Matthews (Cross Keys), James Sheekey (Dragons)
Reps: Alun Rees (Ebbw Vale), John Lavender (Newport), Garin Harris (Newport), Josh Skinner (Cross Keys), Nathan Hudd (Bedwas), James Leadbetter (Cross Keys), Joe Goodchild (Dragons Academy / Cross Keys)
