Wales and England have taken U16 sides to the tournament in the Lyon region of France, while France and Italy are fielding U17 teams, but Simon Davies’s Welsh side did not let the age difference stop them in Vienne, despite trailing 16-3 at half-time.
The match followed a similar pattern to Wales’s opening game, against England on Thursday evening, when Wales recovered from a 12-3 deficit to steal the game in the closing minutes.
France scored two early tries and added two penalty goals in the first half, while Wales were only able to respond with a penalty from Diggy Bird. However, after conceding the early scores, they built in momentum and came out after the break with all guns blazing. Centre and captain Sam Campbell nipped in for a try straight after the restart with Diggy Bird’s conversion putting them within a score of the French.
For the remainder of the second half, the side displayed an immense collective effort, especially while down to 14 men for 10 minutes due to a yellow card for Campbell. They held on heroically and were rewarded with a try for Eli Walker with three minutes to go. The Ospreys wing sprinted 75 metres to score under the posts, outside half Bird adding the extras to sneak a remarkable victory.
Team Manager Darryl Hill said, “After holding on to beat England on Thursday, the boys again put in a tremendous team performance today and fully deserve to come away with the spoils. They never gave up and displayed 100% commitment from the first to the 80th minute. We play Italy U17 in Lyon on Wednesday and we’re hoping to finish the tournament on a high with another victory.”
