Wales U20s have a new captain for Friday’s clash with England U20s
Richard Whiffin has named Dragons No 8 Evan Minto as his new Wales U20s captain for this Friday’s clash with England U20s in Pontypool.
Openside flanker Harry Beddall captained the side for the Six Nations but Minto has been given the honour for this U20s World Cup warm-up match against England.
Wales pulled off a stunning victory over England in the final game of the U20s Six Nations at the Arms Park in March and repeating that would give Whiffin’s side a major confidence boost.
Minto is part of a new-look back row which includes Dragons’ team-mate Ryan Jones and Gloucester flanker Caio James.
The 19-year-old had an impressive Six Nations campaign and Whiffin had no hesitation in handing over the captaincy responsibilities in place of Beddall, who will start from the bench. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“He is a very emotional leader but I think, alongside our tactical leaders in the squad, he will get the balance right,” said Whiffin.“He is a local Pontypool guy plus we wanted to see a slightly different back row. From the performances he put in during the Six Nations, he has certainly put his hand up for the captaincy role.”
Wales kick-off their World Cup campaign with a tough match against Argentina but first face warm-ups against England in Pontypool and Italy at the Arms Park.
Ospreys full-back Lewis Edwards is an exciting player to watch out for, with Bristol’s Aidan Boshoff and Ioan Duggan joining him in the backrow.
Elis Price and Elijah Evans form a potent midfield partnership with Sion Davies at scrum-half and Harri Ford wearing number 10.
In the pack Cam Tyler-Grocott, Sam Hurley and Owain James form a strong front-row with Dan Gemine and Kenzie Jenkins in the second-row. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
“We’ve had guys in camp for three weeks working super hard and they deserve an opportunity,” said Whiffin.“We said to the group at the start of the campaign we were going to use it as a selection game in terms of whittling the squad down from 45 down to 30 so there will be guys playing on Friday night putting their hands up for the plane ticket to Italy.“So pressure goes onto those guys but ultimately if they can perform on Friday in a big game against England then it sets them up well for the World Cup.” Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Wales U20s: Lewis Edwards (Ospreys); Ioan Duggan (Dragons), Elijah Evans (Cardiff), Elis Price (Scarlets), Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears); Harri Ford (Dragons), Sion Davies (Cardiff); Cam Tyler-Grocott (Cardiff), Saul Hurley (Aberavon), Owain James (Dragons), Dan Gemine (Ospreys), Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol Bears), Ryan Jones (Dragons), Caio James (Gloucester), Evan Minto (Captain – Dragons).
Replacements: Evan Wood (Pontypool), Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears), Jac Pritchard (Scarlets), Tom Cottle (Cardiff), Luke Evans (Exeter Chiefs), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester), Harry Beddall (Dragons), Logan Franklin (Dragons), Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff), Dylan Scott (Cardiff Met), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff), Osian Darwin-Lewis (Cardiff), Jack Woods (Bath), Dylan Alford (Scarlets).
