After completing three successive away wins, Wales return to a sold out Parc Eirias tomorrow night in a winner takes all encounter. A Welsh victory will see Danny Wilson’s men pick up the coveted Grand Slam while an English win would see them retain their title.
It promises to be a fascinating battle as the two best sides in this year’s championship go head-to-head in north Wales. With his policy of building a squad for this summer’s Junior World Cup in mind, Wilson has made four changes from last Friday’s win over Scotland in Inverness.
Jack Dixon makes his first start of the competition, partnering the ever present Cory Allen in the centre while Ashley Evans returns on the left wing in place of Aaron Warren. The other two changes see Nicky Smith and Elliot Dee get the chance to start in the front row.
“I’ve followed the combination we’ve had right the way through the tournament which is to give boys an opportunity with the World Cup in mind,” said Wilson.
“Ultimately our goal at the World Cup will to be to reach the semi-final and to do that we have to have a squad that can be mixed and matched. We’ve done that all the way through the Six Nations and it hasn’t done us any harm so we’ll keep going.
“We’ve got a lot of depth and good competition which is healthy and has put us in the position we are now.”
That position has been reached through three gritty performances away from home after an opening weekend win over Ireland.
Conditions away to France and especially Italy hindered Wales’ ability to play running rugby but they showed just how dangerous they can be with a six try demolition of Scotland.
And although England were narrowly edged out by Ireland, they have registered crushing victories over France and Italy with the form of both teams leaving the respective coaches unable to downplay the importance of the game.
“It’ll be a tough game in front of a sold-out crowd,” said England head coach Rob Hunter.
“Wales have performed very well in this competition and they’ve been quite consistent with their selection – we’ll approach this one as we would any other, we want a good performance from the guys.”
Wilson added: “England have still got a forward pack that will cause trouble for any team. They drive a lot of line outs and play a heavy carrying game off nine and 10.
“But we’ve also seen that they can play some rugby and play from a lot deeper than we thought they might. If they execute it’s a danger but their tactics are similar to what we expect.”
Wales U20: 15 Jordan Williams (Scarlets/ Llanelli); 14 Harry Robinson (Blues), 13 Cory Allen (Blues / Cardiff), 12 Jack Dixon (Dragons), 11 Ashley Evans (Ospreys/ Bridgend); 10 Sam Davies (Ospreys / Swansea), 9 Rhodri Williams (Scarlets/ Llandovery); 1 Nicky Smith (Ospreys / Swansea), 2 Elliot Dee (Bedwas), 3 Nicky Thomas (Ospreys / Swansea), 4 Carwyn Jones (Scarlets/ Carmarthen), 5 Rhodri Hughes (Ospreys/ Swansea), 6 Ellis Jenkins (Capt, Blues / Cardiff), 7 Daniel Thomas (Scarlets / Llanelli), 8 Ieuan Jones (Dragons).
Replacements: Ethan Lewis (Blues / Cardiff), Gareth Thomas (Scarlets / Carmarthen), Dan Suter (Ospreys / Bridgend), Jack Jones (Ospreys / Rovigo), Sion Bennett (Scarlets/ Carmarthen), Joshua Davies (Dragons / Bedwas), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Steffan Hughes (Scarlets / Llanelli).
England U20: 15 Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby); 14 Anthony Watson (London Irish), 13 Mark Jennings (Sale Sharks), 12 Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs), 11 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs); 10 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), 9 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby); 1 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), 2 Nathan Morris (London Wasps), 3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), 4 Elliott Stooke (Gloucester Rugby) 5 Dominic Barrow (Leeds Carnegie), 6 Harry Wells (Leicester Tigers) 7 David Sisi (London Irish), 8 Jack Clifford (Harlequins).
Replacements: Max Crumpton (Saracens), Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints),
Danny Herriott (Northampton Saints), Tom Jubb (Saracens), Gus Jones (London Wasps), Alex Day (Northampton Saints), Tom Stephenson (Northampton Saints), Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors).
Watch Wales U20 vs England U20 live from Colwyn Bay on S4C from 7.10pm tomorrow.
