Wales Aim For Three Out Of Three

Wales are hoping to make it three wins out of three in this year’s Under-18 Six Nations Festival in Cork, but the young Welsh players will be sternly tested by France who are on the hunt for a first victory.

Wales have been hugely impressive so far at the Festival, beating hosts Ireland at Musgrave Park as well as running out convincing winners over Italy in their second game.

With skilful wide players and a hugely powerful pack, Wales have been in fine form and they are looking to complete a perfect results record in their final game at Temple Hill. Head coach Simon King said his players looked forward to a tough test.

“You are always excited about the final games at a tournament and this is no different. We’re asking the boys to keep their focus until the final whistle tomorrow and if we do that we can do well,” King said.

“To win three out of three would be a great achievement and would be a reward for all the hard work that has been put in.”

France are looking to bounce back from losses to Scotland and England and have held off naming their team until the morning of the match as they assess a number of players.

Coach Sebastian Bertrank said that his side will be pushing hard for a win.

“We want to be more consistent throughout the game and play well throughout. The team needs to be aggressive and strong in defence and we hope that everyone has learned a lot from the mistakes of the past two games. Good players don’t make the same mistakes twice so we hope to be better in our final game,” he insisted.

WALES UNDER-18 TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v France U-18, 2008 U-18 Six Nations Festival, Tuesday, April 1, Temple Hill, kick-off 2.30pm):

15 – James Loxton (Blues)

14 – Adam Hughes (Dragons)

13 – Ashley Beck (Ospreys)

12 – Scott Williams (Scarlets)

11 – Ieuan Coombes (Dragons)

10 – Matthew Jarvis (Ospreys)

9 – Rhys Downes (Blues)

1 – Daniel Watchurst (Dragons)

2 – Rhys Williams (Blues) (capt)

3 – Simon Gardiner (Scarlets)

4 – Lloyd Peers (Ospreys)

5 – Tom Crandon (Dragons)

6 – Rhys Jenkins (Dragons)

7 – James Davies (Scarlets)

8 – James Thomas (Dragons)

Replacements:

16 – Joel Galley (Scarlets)

17 – Dave Francis (Dragons)

18 – Liam Powell (Ospreys)

19 – Chris Lewis Pratt (Exiles)

20 – Morgan Allan (Dragons)

21 – Dave Francis (Dragons)

22 – Gareth Jenkins (Scarlets)

23 – Ceri Davies (Scarlets)

24 – James King (Scarlets)

25 – Gareth Davies (Scarlets)

26 – Stewart Maguire (Dragons)

FRANCE U-18 SQUAD (v Wales U-18):

David Tarroque, Baptiste Gay, Adrien Alazard, Teddy Iribaren, (all Toulouse), Anthony Maury (Montferrand), Mickael Ivaldi, Sonny Falconetti (both Toulon). Kevin Legeun, Adrein Gach, Amaury Geneste (all Begles). Paul Oliver (Beziers), Victor Muret, Julien Petrod (both Bourgoin), Sullivan Guyon (Orleans), Joris Archimbeau (Montpellier), Florent Brunet, Gilles Arnaudies, Joran Salgues (all Perpignan), Antoine Erbano (Agen), Julien Cabannes (Mont de Marsan), Clement Baldy (La Reunion), Raphael Eymond, Lucas DuPoint (Grenoble), Adrien Domec (Biarritz), Camille Canivet (La Rochelle), Valentin Tourenne (Brive).