Jac Morgan, who made his senior Scarlets debut less than a few months ago against London Irish in the Challenge Cup, has been named captain of Wales Under-20s for the 2020 Six Nations.
Jac is joined by seven other Scarlets prospects who have been selected in a 33-man squad for the tournament. Prop Callum Williams, who started his rugby journey playing for the U16s East team, is included, as is hooker Dom Booth who made his senior debut in the pre-season friendly against the Dragons.
Lock Jac Price, who like Morgan appeared in the Junior World Championships in Argentina last summer, is also selected. Morgan was a regular for Scarlets A in this season’s Celtic Cup. Fellow Carmarthen product Osian Knott is also included. Knott appeared in all seven Celtic Cup fixtures. Another Academy product named in the squad is back-three player Harri Doel.
One of our newest recruits Harri O’Connor who joined the Scarlets last season is also included, as well as left wing Callum Williams, a member of the current Scarlets’ Under-18s squad.
All of the boys have been involved in a training camp that took place this month. Joe Roberts who was involved in the squad last season, misses out as he recovers from a long-term knee injury.
Williams describes the squad selected as a ‘well-balanced and exciting group of players’ and although there were some tough selection calls, the door isn’t entirely shut for others to force their way into Junior World Cup selection later in the year.
“We’ve been through the identification process thoroughly and it has resulted in us arriving at this stage of the Six Nations. There are still a lot of players out there that are still in contention for the Junior World Cup and it’s a case of keeping that identification going while competing in this Six Nations period,” he explained.
Key figures could be fly-halves Ioan Lloyd and Sam Costelow who have gained invaluable experience this season with their clubs Bristol Bears and Leicester Tigers respectively, while Morgan has caught the eye for the Scarlets after several eye-catching performances in last summer’s Under-20s World Rugby Championship in Argentina.
“Jac has just kicked on, he did superbly in the World Cup last year and he has taken his opportunity at the Scarlets and it is great to see,” added Williams.
Wales begin their campaign in Colwyn Bay against Italy on Friday, January 31.
Upcoming Fixtures;
Friday 31st Jan – Wales v Italy – Parc Eirias KO 19:35
Friday 7th Feb – Ireland v Wales – Irish Independent Park, Cork – KO 19:15
Friday 21st Feb – Wales v France – Parc Eirias KO 19:35
Friday 6th March – England v Wales – Kingsholm, Gloucester – KO 19:45
Friday 13th March – Wales v Scotland – Parc Eirias KO 19:35
Wales U20s Six Nations Squad:
Josh Thomas (Ospreys)
Bradley Roderick (Ospreys)
James Fender (Ospreys)
Rhys Thomas (Ospreys)
Travis Huntley (Ospreys)
Morgan Strong (Ospreys)
Theo Bevacqua (Cardiff Blues)
Ben Warren (Cardiff Blues)
Gwilym Bradley (Cardiff Blues)
Ioan R Davies (Cardiff Blues)
Jacob Beetham (Cardiff Blues)
Dom Booth (Scarlets)
Callum Williams – Prop (Scarlets)
Callum Williams – Full Back (Scarlets)
Harri Doel (Scarlets)
Osian Knott (Scarlets)
Jac Morgan (Captain) (Scarlets)
Jac Price (Scarlets)
Harri O’Connor (Scarlets)
Dylan Bartlett (Dragons)
Will Griffiths (Dragons)
Brodie Coghlan (Dragons)
Ben Carter (Dragons)
Benji Hoppe (Dragons)
Daf Buckland (Dragons)
Ewan Rosser (Dragons)
Aneurin Owen (Dragons)
Archie Griffin (Bath)
Ioan Lloyd (Bristol)
Ellis Bevan (Cardiff Met)
Luke Scully (Worcester)
Sam Costelow (Leicester)
Dan John (Millfield School)