England U19 who held New Zealand U19 to 24-17 pipped Wales U19 for a place in the last four after gaining a valuable bonus point for losing by just seven points to the U19 World Championship title holders. Wales U19 finished in fifth place in the league table at the end of the pool games with ten points from their two games (five against Scotland U19 and another five against Japan U19), one behind the English whose eleven points earned them a semi-final place against top-placed South Africa U19.
Once Neath’s nippy little scrum-half Martin Roberts slipped through for a try after six minutes, it was only a matter of how many tries and how many points Wales U19 would rack up against an outclassed Japanese side. With streams of possession, the Welsh attacked non-stop with Roberts, Swansea fullback Aaron Bramwell and Llanelli wing Darren Daniel all getting a brace of tries in a facile win. Martin Roberts ended up with 22 points from his two tries and six conversions.
The other Welsh try-scorers were lock Will Jones (St Teilo’s CS), Cardiff No.8 Adam Powell, Newport scrum-half Alex Walker, Mumbles flanker Ben Lewis, Glantaf wing Jamie Roberts and Bedwas prop Richard Wilkes. There was also a penalty try. It still left Wales U19 agonisingly short of qualification for the semi-finals.
