The game will be a curtain raiser to the England Under 20 v Wales Under 20 Six Nations clash. The Welsh side has been resurrected by the Welsh Rugby Union in partnership with the Welsh Students Rugby Union as part of a move to further develop student rugby and identify and develop talented players outside the current player pathway.
Former Wales Under 21 coach Chris Davey has been appointed head coach of the side, assisted by Pontypool head coach James Chapron and Glamorgan Wanderers head coach Chris Ower.
WRU Partnership Manager Adrian Evans said, “We are working in close partnership with the Welsh Students Rugby Union to develop a range of schemes that will help the development of student rugby including the creation of new participation opportunities for both male and female students, not only for playing rugby but also in coaching and refereeing.
“We are thrilled to have been able to appoint such an experienced and qualified head coach as Chris Davey who not only successfully coached Wales at international age grade level but his wealth of experience as Director of Rugby at Cardiff Metropolitan (formerly UWIC) puts him in a great position, not only to develop players but also to mentor and develop the two assistant coaches.”
Davey added, “It’s great that the Welsh Rugby Union as governing body has recognised the importance of student rugby in this way. As someone who has been involved at this level for a long time, there is a lot of talent within the student game and playing high profile games such as these is a great opportunity for unearthing that talent.
“As for tomorrow’s game, England Students have the benefit of having played the Portugal national side in preparation for this game, losing narrowly, however Welsh University rugby is in good shape at the moment, and the players from both sides regularly come up against each other. Added to that, we have the fantastic opportunity of playing at the Stoop ahead of the Under 20 international, so it should be a cracker.”
Wales Students was originally established in 1982 and counts more than 50 Welsh internationals amongst its former players, including Wales attack coach Rob Howley and four other British & Irish Lions.
England Students warmed-up for the game with a clash against the national team of Portugal, which they lost 31-28 in Lisbon last month.
Wales Students: Luke Treharne (Exeter University); Will Jones (Cardiff University), Leighton Bellamore (Cardiff Metropolitan), Ross Wardle (Cardiff University), Tom Williams (Bridgend Coll); Rhys Roberts (Cardiff Metropolitan), Tom Rowlands (Swansea University); Brynley Toms (Cardiff Metropolitan), Jon Howard (Cardiff Metropolitan), Ian Williams (Swansea University), Jon Barley (Swansea Uni), Josh Tyler (Cardiff Metropolitan), James Thomas (Cardiff University), Craig Attwell (University of Wales, Newport), Sam Cross (University of Wales, Newport).
Replacements: Joe Tomlinson (Cardiff Metropolitan), Rhodri Clancy (Swansea University), Josh Jacas (Cardiff Metropolitan), Kyle Tayler (Cardiff Metropolitan), Aled Lewis (Swansea University), Ianto Griffiths (Swansea University), Rhys Howells (Cardiff University)
England Students: Daniel Bibby (Cardiff Metropolitan); Ryan Edwards (UWE), Tom Shiel (Durham), Louis Messer (Cardiff Metropolitan), Sam Miller (Bath); Mike Ward (VC) (Durham), Andrew McCulla (Durham); Richard Barrington (UWE Hartpury), Richard Townsend (UWE Hartpury), Jordan Saunder (Cardiff Metropolitan), Phil Hoy (UWE Hartpury), Jamie Collins (Bath), Josh Beaumont (Durham), Tom Sargeant (Exeter, captain), Graeme Lawler (UWE Hartpury)
Replacements: Tom Meatyard (Bath), Mungo Strachan (Newcastle), Anthony Maka (Bishop Burton), Liam Wilkinson (UWE), Donald Blake (Cambridge), Zak Winnicombe (Bath), Tom O’Toole (Cambridge)
