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20 players aged 20 and under to watch out for in the Pro14: Pt 2
The structure of the Pro14, a cross-border competition where the unions (directly or indirectly) have a strong influence on player availability, means young players often feature more prominently.
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The first part of this RugbyPass look at some of the most promising young names to watch in the Pro14 featured a number of players who have already made an impression in the league and received attention from their international coaches.
Who features in Part 2? Read on…
Sam Costelow, Scarlets, fly-half
The jinking young fly half is included for his impressive U20 performances, which now number 13, including his one-man dismembering of England in this year’s Six Nations U20 tournament, although he won’t get a chance to play in the Pro14 until next season when he returns to Wales to play for Scarlets. He is another who has been called up to train with the Wales senior squad and there were even rumours he might be called upon for the senior matchday squad when it looked like Dan Biggar wouldn’t be eligible — an indication that the hype train is alive and well for this exciting talent.
Rory Darge, Edinburgh, back row
Scotland’s U20 captain has already experienced some of the lows rugby has to offer: serious injury and relegation (last year, Scotland were the first Tier 1 side to be relegated from the World Rugby U20 Championship since Italy in 2012) but has bounced back this season with a number of impressive performances. He is abrasive, physical, and comfortable across the back row — qualities you would imagine Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill would consider worth a closer look at in the future.
Harry Byrne, Leinster, fly-half
The computer upgrade to older brother Ross Byrne has already spent time in the Ireland camp. With nine appearances, including three starts, under his belt this season, Byrne junior is clearly another Leinster youngster to benefit from the province’s integrated approach to youth development, getting his opportunities with more experienced players on hand in the team. In each of his three starts so far, Leinster put at least 50 points on the opposition and Byrne himself picked up Man of the Match awards in the first two. Not a bad start to a professional rugby career — and Leinster’s track record suggests he can keep it up.
Gavin Wills, Isuzu Southern Kings, scrum-half
It has been a tough few seasons for Southern Kings, with everything in flux. New owners appear to have some stability in mind for the longer-term, with a focus on young players. One of those could be Wills, signed this season. His one appearance so far, from the bench in a miserable 50 drubbing at the hands of Glasgow Warriors, will have been a tough introduction for him but Sarel Pretorius is an experienced pair of hands to guide him through. Kings need players to build around and Wills could be one.
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Ben Warren, Cardiff Blues, prop
The former No8 has featured throughout the Welsh age-grade set-up, coming through early to the U20s and cementing a starting position from the off. He is another member of the U20 side who memorably defeated New Zealand in the 2019 World Championship, alongside Ioan Davies, Dewi Lake, Jac Morgan, and Sam Costelow. Wales have a nice stable of dynamic, promising young props who are gaining early international experience and the Blues tighthead prop looks like he could add to that group with a few seasons of Pro14 rugby under his belt.
Thomas Ahern, Munster, lock
Surprisingly mobile for a 6’9″ man, Ahern has the potential to be a hybrid of Devin Toner in the lineout and an Iain Henderson type around the park. In his second year at U20 level, he stepped up to the leadership group and led the way with a brace of well-taken tries as Ireland clinched a triple crown against rivals England. At Munster, he has been picking the brains of the senior locks at every opportunity and that attitude, with the expertise available to him, could well ease the transition to the next stage.
Aneurin Owen, Dragons, centre
Dragons have had a serious talent pipeline for some time now and you’d be forgiven for expecting the exciting young Taine Basham in this slot. But Basham has almost 30 Pro14 appearances under his belt over the past three years and a senior call-up — you should have been watching him for a while.
His regional teammate Owen is one of many exciting young players at Rodney Parade, particularly because his background at fly half has given him the skill set to be the playmaking 12 many Welsh fans crave at senior level. Most of his exposure has been for the U20s, the Celtic Cup, or the Welsh Premiership but Owen is highly rated and will surely get his chance soon.
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Michael Mba, Benetton, wing
Mba is arguably a cheat selection because he doesn’t yet play for Benetton and isn’t formally attached. That said, he is from Treviso and they are the nearest Pro14 team to his current side. More importantly, Mba is one of the most exciting talents in Italian youth rugby and was arguably the decisive factor in the U20 side avoiding relegation last season. He has serious pace, a killer instinct for the tryline, and would add some much-needed depth to the Azzurri senior squad if he could prove himself in the Pro14.
Niall Murray, Connacht, lock
Ireland’s young depth in the second row isn’t letting up, with the fiercely competitive Murray also breaking through. Connacht had a rough start to the season with injuries, giving Murray the opportunity to make his mark on some big games. With two interpro derbies, two Heineken Champions Cup games, and an important match against Edinburgh under his belt, the former GAA and soccer player has now been exposed to the serious end of the competition without letting anyone down.
Scott Penny, Leinster, back row
We started with a Leinster player and, inevitably, we finish with one too. Penny made his senior debut for Leinster in 2018 before he’d featured for the Irish U20s — although he put that experience to good use as he starred in Ireland’s 2019 U20 Grand Slam campaign. He’s clever, quick, and very mobile and looks like he could make an exhilarating back row for the future with Max Deegan and Caelan Doris. He’s already made 13 appearances for Leinster, most of them starts, and looks very comfortable at this level already. He’ll almost certainly be one of the next Leinster wunderkinds in the Irish camp before long.
Comments on RugbyPass
You probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to comments