Gatland: Championship key to Wales’s rugby future

That is the unanimous verdict of the trio of professionals now in charge of taking Welsh rugby to new levels.

WRU Audio: Warren Gatland on the IRB Junior World Championship 

Match Schedule for the Junior World Championship

Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland, Elite Performance Director Graeme Maw and Head of Rugby Development Nigel Davies have all emphasised the importance to Wales’s rugby development of hosting the inaugural, sixteen team tournament in June.

Gatland was in Wrexham today (Tuesday), to recognise the importance of the forthcoming Junior World Championship (JWC), hosted by Wales, and believes the tournament will help shape his plans for the next four years.

He said, “I have already met with the Wales U20 squad and told them that in four years’ time, some of them could be in New Zealand at the next World Cup.

“I will be looking seriously at these players and, with the best players in the world at age group level coming to Wales in June, the Junior World Championship will be a great starting point towards 2011.

“The tournament will test all aspects of rugby development in Wales, from our academies and players to our coaches. Part of my role will be to help transfer age grade success onto the senior international stage.

“Wales have done well in Six Nations age grade competitions in the past, but this global competition provides a great opportunity for the Wales Under 20s to test themselves against the best players and teams in the world. The fact that this tournament will be hosted in Wales will provide an extra boost to our hopes because they will be playing in familiar surroundings.

“Wales U19s did exceptionally well to reach the last four in Belfast last season, this will be a chance to build on those performances.”

Graeme Maw will take up his role as WRU Elite Performance Director on February 1st when he will travel to Kingsholm to watch Wales U20 face England in the Six Nations opener.

He said, “I’m very excited about the opportunities this season presents for the Wales U20 squad and how the experience of the tournament will filter down and benefit the other players coming through the system, along with providing a vehicle for these players themselves to develop as players.

“Helping the national squad is what the whole of elite rugby in Wales is working towards but it is only by working with younger players in the medium and long term that we can hope to consistently improve standards at international level.”

Nigel Davies will make his first visit to north Wales as Head of Rugby Development later this week. He will meet the North Wales rugby council and development officers in the region in a bid to further understand the needs of north Wales youngsters coming through the system.

He said, “Rob McCusker and Haydn Pugh are youngsters from north Wales currently involved in our Wales Sevens and Wales U20 squads respectively. There are also a total of seven players in the current Wales U18 and Wales U16 training squads.

“There is a geographical barrier within rugby in Wales, but it is nothing that cannot be overcome and we are working hard to improve the competition and skill levels in north Wales, in order to ensure we make the most of all of the talent available to Welsh rugby.”

Clubs to adopt participating nations

The fifteen clubs who will play host to the top U 20 countries in the world when they fly into Wales in June have been named.

The clubs will provide training facilities for the participating teams – and play a key link role between the international squads and communities across Wales.

Along with a comprehensive plan within schools throughout Wales, the host clubs will stage a range of rugby activities before and during the tournament and provide an opportunity for young people to watch training sessions, meet with the teams, and watch their ‘adopted teams’ in match action.

The host clubs are as follows: