There are places in the squad for two exciting 17-year-old scrum-halves: Dragons’ Dan Babos, who has regularly featured for the Gwent region this season, and Harri Morgan of Ospreys, a try-scorer in the Wales U18 victory against England last year.
“What’s good about this squad is that there are quite a lot of competitive areas,” says Strange. “We’ve got fierce competition in the half-backs, while the back row is also a position of strength.”
Another notable inclusion is wing Tomi Lewis – one of 16 of last season’s U18 players included in today’s squad – who gained plaudits for his exceptional debut for Wales Sevens in the World Series in Dubai last month.
RGC tighthead Sam Wainwright could also be in line to make his debut in front of his home crowd at Colwyn Bay against Scotland on Friday 2nd February. “Sam’s played for RGC for the last 12-18 months in the Premiership,” Strange says. “For a tighthead he will have taken a great deal of experience from that, and he’s playing really well at the moment.”
Wales will use the U20 Six Nations as an opportunity to increase their depth in preparation for this year’s World Rugby U20 Championship in France, whilst also benefiting from the return of several players who featured in last year’s tournaments.
“A number of these players will go back to play for their regions during the Six Nations, which is always the case,” says Strange. “That’s something which will allow other players a chance, and it’s one of the reasons why we’ve named a large squad.”
Crucially, Strange and his assistant coaches, Chris Horsman and Geraint Lewis, maintain the attacking mindset which has been a hallmark of the Wales U20s in the past few seasons. Unsurprisingly, it is a mindset that is cultivated at U18 level by that very same coaching group.
“That attacking philosophy is really important,” he says. “It’s the way we want to develop our players in Wales – for them to play with flair, allowing them to express themselves as much as possible.”
The coaches were heartened by this week’s national squad announcement, with 80% of the players a graduate of the U20 programme. “That’s how we judge our success,” explains Strange. “It’s the number one area of focus: how many players go on to be named in the national squad.”
For a full list of the Wales U20 Six Nations fixtures, click here.
Wales U20 Six Nations squad:
Forwards: Taine Basham (Dragons), James Botham (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues), Dan Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Davies (Bath), Lennon Greggains (Dragons), Will Griffiths (Dragons), Iestyn Harris (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Henry (Ospreys), Morgan Jones (Scarlets), Will Jones (Ospreys), Dewi Lake (Ospreys), Alun Lawrence (Cardiff Blues), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets), Morgan Morris (Ospreys), Jack Pope (Bridgend), Tommy Reffell (Leicester), Josh Reynolds (Dragons), Sam Wainwright (RGC), Max Williams (Dragons).
Backs: Dan Babos (Dragons), Corey Baldwin (Scarlets), Callum Carson (Ospreys), Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Cai Evans (Ospreys), Joe Goodchild (Dragons), Aaron Hemmings (Scarlets), Ben Jones (Cardiff Blues), Tomi Lewis (Scarlets), Harri Morgan (Ospreys), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), Ioan Nicholas (Scarlets), Carwyn Penny (Gloucester), Tommy Rogers (Scarlets), Ben Thomas (Cardiff Blues).
