Five Wales players to watch at the World Rugby U20 Championship
The World Rugby U20 Championship is beginning to creep closer and we kick off our look at the northern hemisphere nations involved with Wales, identifying five key players who could make a significant impact over the next month.
Owen Watkin and Dillon Lewis are two of the most recent graduates from the U20s to the senior Wales side and these five players could well follow similar paths in the coming years.
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Corey Baldwin, Scarlets
Whilst it’s often the exceptional finishing of his regional and international teammate, Ryan Conbeer, that makes the highlight videos, Baldwin is the multi-faceted operator at outside centre that regularly facilitates the scores.
He has an eye for a gap and the speed to exploit it, but doesn’t shy away physically from contact, either, and has already shown himself to be a capable contributor at senior level, having made a handful of appearances for the Scarlets this season. If Wales can deliver him quick ball over the next month, he’ll make the opposition pay.
For all his attacking skills, though, his defensive work might be what proves most crucial to Wales over the coming weeks, with his side in the same pool as the prodigious back line threats of New Zealand, Australia and even Japan. If Wales want to emerge from that pool and qualify for the semi-finals, Baldwin’s decision-making in defence will be key.
Rhys Carre, Cardiff Blues
It feels as though Carre has been playing at this level for years, but that’s just a mark of the early impact he made as a strong scrummager and dangerous ball-carrier.
That leap to senior involvement with the Cardiff Blues hasn’t happened just yet but another U20 Championship will do no harm to Carre’s development, who could well turn into Gethin Jenkins’ long-term replacement at loosehead. If Wales want to unleash Baldwin, Carre will help shoulder the burden of keeping the Welsh pack moving forward consistently.
As valuable as his contributions in the loose are certain to be, his ability to anchor a scrum will be equally important, with Wales needing a consistent platform from which to launch their back line, something which they lacked during the U20 Six Nations.
Max Williams, Dragons
Thanks to an injury crisis at the Dragons earlier in the season, Williams has had his fair share of senior playing time over the last nine months.
The versatile lock/blindside did not look out of place in the senior game and will demonstrate his impressive strength and speed in the south of France this summer. He will most likely be deployed in the second-row, with Wales’ captain Tommy Reffell holding down the six jersey, where he will bring another important ball-carrying presence to the Welsh pack and operate as an able lineout option.
Keep an eye out for Williams’ impressive regional teammate Taine Basham, too, with the number eight likely to be a key contributor to Wales’ fortunes over the coming weeks.
Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, Ospreys
Having also played U18 rugby this season, Thomas-Wheeler is one of the newer faces in this Wales U20 side and one that could find an impactful role immediately.
The inside centre spot was a rotating door during the U20 Six Nations, with Callum Carson, Ioan Nicholas, Ben Thomas and Max Llewellyn all taking turns in the jersey and that lack of continuity is something that Thomas-Wheeler could take advantage of. He is certainly physical and that seems a prerequisite for Welsh centres at this level, but he is also a confident and accurate passer, a solid defensive option and would seem to complement Baldwin well in the midfield.
There are shades of Owen Watkin about Thomas-Wheeler and that’s a combination that both Ospreys and Wales fans can look forward to seeing in the years to come.
Ryan Conbeer, Scarlets
A name that many are already familiar with and many more are likely to be come the end of the U20 Championship next month, Conbeer is a walking highlight reel thanks to his exceptional speed and physics-defying finishing ability.
He’s no slouch in other areas of his game, either, and, at just 19 years of age, is beginning to push up into the fringes of the Scarlets senior squad. Like Baldwin, he’s another threatening offensive player that should only continue to improve under the tutelage of Wayne Pivac, but unlike Baldwin, Conbeer has another season at this level still to go following the conclusion of the Championship next month.
With Baldwin’s playmaking and Conbeer’s speed and finishing, the Welsh back line could be as deadly as any in the south of France next month, but will they have the platform to showcase it?
Comments on RugbyPass
The key point I think that is missing is that if Joseph wants to guarantee a Lions spot, he really has to play wing in his first year. He is easily going to nail down whatever he wants to do, but with just half a season, how much of a factor he proves to be in the Lions series could be dictated by this initial choice of playing position.
6 Go to commentsthe game was 2 weeks before the challenge cup final. I really don’t believe they needed to rest that many players.
1 Go to commentsI really feel like neither of the Vunipolas is given the respect they deserve. I would have liked to see both of them get a few more caps than they have gotten in the past couple of years, but unfortunately the fact that they both peaked young has meant that for a number of years they have been perceived as disappointments. When they are both retired, in the cold light of day they will be recognised as two of the best players of their generation of any nation.
2 Go to commentsthis generation of saracens players could produce some really incredible coaches. When Farrell retires he could walk into any premiership team as a defence, attack, or kicking coach. Itoje could make it as a defence or a lineout coach, and Jamie George as a lineout or scrum coach. The problem the Vunipolas are going to have is that its not clear what their coaching speciality would be. Neither are great in the set piece, and while they were good in attack and defence, they were never tactical masterminds. Perhaps contact skills would be their ideal brief? Mako perhaps could work in strength & conditioning, but Billy has a bit of a reputation for not taking that side of the game seriously.
2 Go to commentsA very good player.We are finally getting some balance in our team. Plummer..Heem ..Lam a solid..experienced combo who take the sensible options consistently. Clarke was a grt impact of the bench option until Lam moved to 13 to replace an injured Reiko. Cotter is doing a grt job building his team. .
1 Go to commentsSaturday was last straw. Terrible record in Premiership since Jan 23. Capitulation against Bath at home. There are 3 conclusions. Players aren't good enough. Coaching team aren't good enough or combination of both.
2 Go to commentsAs you say in your article Brett, the point was Hamish and his vanity - plain and simple. The crazy bit is that sua’ali’i has to be probably twice the player of mark N, no easy feat, just for RA to get their money's worth!?! And as you say, tahs aren't short of wingers, props on the other hand id like to see $1.6m spent on. I still shake my head at the absolute carry on in the media and comments section around the boon of getting sua’ali’i and the revenue it'd generate. It was all such hogwash imo and short sighted, real sugar hit stuff. And wasnt Waugh (and others) on the board at the time this money was spent? You say silver bullet, I'd say sugar hit but without the flavour.
6 Go to commentsNZR should play hard all a bit with some of these players and make them sign up to the next world cup. If they won’t, offer it to someone who will. Because what happens is the NH (especially France) swoop on a bunch of nz players coming off contract, weakening their depth, and nz scrambles less than 2 years out trying to get replacements up to speed.
1 Go to commentsNo thanks. Savea almost always leaves easy points out there and goes for the corner, no matter how many times it’s not working. He claimed he took “the learnings” from this when he kept making the same mistake against the Boks a few years ago. Then went out the very next week and did the same thing and SA snatched victory because of it. Years later he still does it, right up to and including the world cup final. Great player, not so great rugby nous.
10 Go to commentsIt certainly wasn't a rhetorical masterpiece coming from big E …. (just as a side remark: Eben is the better player, Siya by far the better talker - maybe that's why they don't seem to like each other very much) …. but could we please move on?
63 Go to commentsMan who wasn't there and hasn't held a conversation with those who were present weighs in on dead rubber debate and is presented as representative of the Irish Rugby Union’s spokesperson on subject he has no apparent knowledge of whatsoever.
63 Go to commentsanybody who bends at the waist when they tackle
4 Go to commentsThe evidence is not strong that this is necessary. Mounga choked on clutch kicks in the WRC final and lost the match by not performing his core goal kicking role to the level required. He also choked in the Semi final against England and was targeted as the weak point in the defence allowing them to score. Not a test great frankly. Why bend the rules for a player that is competent but not brilliant at test level?
11 Go to commentsDear Robbie, Please return to the Crusaders next season. Sincerely, Scott
1 Go to commentsDid the big E call the Irish the ‘White Can’ts’? That would’ve been good
63 Go to commentsDalton Papalii will be lucky to be selected on the Matchday 23. Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Peter Lauki are all as good or better openside flankers
10 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a lock and they have a much longer shelf life than a loose forward. Far more likely that Barrett will still demand a starting position based on performance at age 33 at RWC 2027 than Savea, whose explosive athleticism will have declined and he will in all likelihood have been surpassed by Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Siti, Peter Lauki and Brayden Iose.
10 Go to commentsExtremely frustrating to get yet more speculation over whether or not Eben actually counted 12 players or not, but honestly big respect to McCloskey for keeping it classy and not pointing out Etzebeth’s hypocrisy. The Irish are a popular team outside of Ireland because they do their talking on the pitch, and its honestly a PR masterclass that they’re keeping it that way following Etzebeth’s provocation.
63 Go to commentsGood option for the lineout lost there.
1 Go to commentsIt’s not like Saffas have a long history of spouting absolute shite at any & every occasion. Oh wait… The dangers of an inferior third world education strike again.
63 Go to comments