He and his coaching team have split the 50 man squad into two squads of equal ability – the Celts and the Druids – with mixed results so far but a lot of promise.
The Celts beat England South West 43-12 on Sunday and lost 27-19 to England London and South East on Wednesday, while the Druids have drawn both of their matches – against Scotland 29-29 then England Midlands 15-15. The festival ends on Saturday with the Celts playing France A and the Druids playing France U16, both at Wellington College.
Davies said, “Both teams started well in their opening matches. Scotland were very strong in the contact area and defensively against the Druids, the Celts were very impressive against England South West, running up a 36-0 lead within 40 minutes, but the challenge for both sides is to cut out the unforced errors.
“In the second round of games, England London and South East were very strong physically, as all the English teams are, and our players need to adapt to that. Both our teams were down at half time in those games and played better in the second half which is pleasing. The Druids came back from being 19-0 down to finishing 19-27 and only a last minute penalty for England London and South East extended their lead to two scores.
“It’s not all about results at this level, it’s more about performance and development and our second half performances yesterday showed that we are learning a huge amount.
“It’s the most intense level of rugby these boys have experienced so far but we are certainly looking for the sides to put together a more complete performance over 70 minutes on Saturday against France and France A, who will no doubt provide a tough challenge.”
Wales Druids scorers v Scotland (Saturday 12 April):
Tries: Gethin Gibby, Garin Loughor, Jack Pope, Aled Ward, Ben Warren
Cons: Tom Howell (2)
Wales Celts scorers v England South West (Saturday 12 April):
Tries: Declan Smith, Jordan Liney, Phil Jones, Patric Lewis, Ioan Nicholas, Keelan Giles, Jared Rosser
Cons: Phil Jones (3), Zac Byard
Wales Druids scorers v England Midlands (Wednesday 16 April):
Tries: Efan Jones, Cameron Lewis
Con : Tom Howell
Pen : Tom Howell
Wales Celts scorers v England London and South East (Wednesday 16 April):
Tries: Steffan Gibbon, Keelan Giles, Josh Reid
Cons: Phil Jones (2)
