Guest to skipper Wales U18

It will be the second step taken by the Wales U18 squad towards the Home Nations Tournament in Glasgow and the first of two clashes with England. After this weekend’s match the Welsh youngsters will meet the England FIRA squad at Clifton the following Sunday.

King has chosen a 28 strong squad following the 29-29 draw with the French Academies in the first trial match. With 11 replacements named for this weekend’s game of three 25 minute sessions the only players to miss out on the action are the injured Rory Pitman and Chris Wannel.

“Our preparation for the next two weekends has been very good and if we were half ready for the trip to France then we are where we need to be for the clashes with the two England squads,” said King.

“It is a very competitive squad and there are eight players in the 28 who will be available at this age next year. From my perspective, the Reebok Regional championship worked very well for us and there is a lot of talent among this group of players.

“We were creative behind the scrum in France and I was delighted with the way the forwards fronted up to the French challenge. We’ve worked hard on our line-out since that game and we know we’ll need to be super efficient in all we do against the English.”

Although King’s team is scheduled to meet England’s top squad in Cleve, comprising the players that will play in the Home Nations Tournament in Scotland, the coach is unsure of the strength of the squads the English will take into the two matches.

“They have to pick two teams to play in both the Home Nations and the FIRA tournaments, but they might mix and match their squads over the next couple of weekends to try to keep us guessing,” said King.

“We’ll prepare as if we are meeting their top team over both weekends because there is obviously a lot of competition for places in their two squads. They have such a wealth of talent to select from we know that we will face top opposition in both matches.”

Wales U18 Development XV: Jason Tovey (Blues); Ryan Bayliss (Ospreys), Jason Harries (Scarlets), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), Tom Rees (Scarlets); Daniel Biggar (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Blues); Aaron Coundley (Dragons), Ricky Guest (Scarlets, captain), Scott Andrews (Blues), Lee Bray (Dragons), Ashley Sweet (Dragons), Jason Tipuric (Ospreys), Jake Thomas (Blues), Lewis Mills (Blues)

Replacements: Rhys Downs (Blues), Joe Deacon (Blues), Matthew Lemon (Scarlets), James Loxton (Blues), Tom Price (Blues), Rhys Williams (Blues), Stewart Maguire (Dragons), Dan Partridge (Blues), Kristian Dacey (Blues), Jack Shaw (Ospreys), Rhys Jenkins (Dragons)

Wales U18 Squad 2006-2007

Full Backs
James Loxton (Blues)
Jason Tovey (Dragons)

Wings
Tom Rees (Scarlets)
Matthew Lemon (Scarlets)
Ryan Bayliss (Ospreys)

Centres
Jason Harries (Scarlets)
Ashley Beck (Ospreys)
Chris Wannel (Dragons)

Outside Halves
Daniel Biggar (Ospreys)
Joe Deacon (Blues)

Scrum Halves
Rhys Downes (Blues)
Lloyd Williams (Blues)

Props
Tom Price (Blues)
Aaron Coundley (Dragons)
Scott Andrews (Blues)
Stewart Maguire (Dragons)

Hookers
Rhys Williams (Blues)
Ricky Guest (Scarlets)

Locks
Dan Partridge (Blues)
Ashley Sweet (Dragons)
Lee Bray (Dragons)

Back Row
Kristian Dacey (Blues)
Jack Shaw (Ospreys)
Jake Thomas (Blues)
Rhys Jenkins (Dragons)
Rory Pitman (Ospreys)
Lewis Mills (Blues)
Jason Tipuric (Ospreys)