Wales now head to Italy for the World Championship with their head coach given lots of options to pick from
Wales U20s coach Richard Whiffin says he has some difficult decisions ahead when it comes to naming his squad for the World Championship in Italy, as he praised the improved strength in depth at age-grade level.
His side ended their preparations for the upcoming tournament with a seven-try 47-19 victory over Italy at the Arms Park on Friday. Whiffin used a total of 29 players in all as his squad bounced back from defeat to England last week.
Afterwards, the Wales coach admitted he was delighted at the performance ahead of naming his squad on Tuesday.
“It was a really disciplined performance,” he said. “We stuck to the plan for the whole 80 as there was a chance for that to get a little bit loose.
“We were disciplined with our kicking and when the space was there, we went after it. I just said to the group there were 45 boys working hard and they’ve made my job pretty tough.”
On whether he had some big decisions coming up as he names his squad for the tournament in Italy, he added: “Massively.
“We’ve got strength in depth across positions. It’s going to create some headaches for us as coaches.
“The nature of the tournament is you pick up injuries as it goes on. The fact we’ve got 45 players game time over these two weeks will set anyone up well if they don’t make the plane but come out later.”
Wales start their campaign against Argentina before facing France and Spain.
“Certainly from last year, I think so,” said Whiffin when asked if there was more strength in depth available to him. “The ability to rotate will be key in the heat out in Italy.”
Ioan Emanuel, Ioan Duggan along and Aidan Boshoff (twice) all crossed for tries in the first half, while a penalty try and Harri Ford’s three conversions gave Wales a 33-14 lead at the break.
A second for Duggan and a further score from Osian Darwin-Lewis secured a comfortable win.
Wales begin their World Championship campaign on June 29.
