LONG READ ‘Some significant Welsh talents could make names for themselves despite U20s results’

“Playing rugby at school, I once fell on a loose ball and, through ignorance and fear, held on despite a fierce pummelling. After that it took me months to convince my team-mates I was a coward.”

So recalled the late comedian Peter Cook.

Sometimes, early impressions can be deceiving. But not always.

Sometimes, an opinion formed at first sight can hold. The estimable former Swansea prop Keith Colclough once told this writer about the day he was introduced to a young Scott Gibbs. “Neath had come down to play us at St Helen’s,” said Colclough. “We’d been speaking about this young lad who was only just out of youth rugby. Anyway, from a scrum early in the game Neath brought Scott back on the angle. He piled into Billy James, our hooker, hitting him so hard that Billy somersaulted back and hit me and we both ended up about eight feet from where Scott had hit us. It was like a pinball. Honestly, it was incredible. I can see him coming now. I thought: ‘Billy will look after him’. It was a case of ‘your man, Billy’. After we’d picked ourselves up, I just said: ‘Who is this boy?’”

Gibbs came out of the same Wales Youth side as Neil Jenkins. Their potential was so obvious even a short-sighted rugby-phobe could have spotted it from afar. Both had the basic tools to fashion illustrious careers for themselves. History shows the pair more than delivered on their youthful promise.

But as anyone who has braved the Coryton roundabout off junction 32 of the M4 during rush hour knows, not every L-plater gets to become a great driver. In rugby, that means not every young player with ambitions gets to realise them. Blips in the development process can turn high hopes to dust.  For every Scott Gibbs, there are multiple others who see their early promise evaporate.

So what can we make of the Wales U20 class of 2026?

Wales were hit by injuries and the odd unavailability that left their depth exposed, but there were unmistakable glimpses of talent in their ranks.

Turn the clock back six weeks and there were suggestions that we could be looking at a vintage group. Then France’s players of tomorrow won in Cardiff, Ireland put 48 points past the Welsh tyros in Cork and Italy physically dominated Richard Whiffin’s team in the rain in Newport, leaving Wales fourth in the final standings, eight points off third-placed England. Age-grade coaches tend to be concerned with performances as much as results, but, even so, if four defeats in five matches can’t be seen as a shade sobering, then what can?

But here’s the thing: there were still individual players who showed up strongly. Wales were hit by injuries and the odd unavailability that left their depth exposed, but there were unmistakable glimpses of talent in their ranks.

Step forward back-rower and co-captain Deian Gwynne. It is often lazily suggested Gen Z-ers are inclined to shrink from the prospect of hard graft. Those wanting to subvert such a view need only to bring Gwynne into the conversation. He is the type of bloke who would skip a coffee break as a galley slave just to row the ship an extra millimetre or two closer to its destination.

Even against Italy in the final round of games – after a month of unstinting effort – he still made 17 carries and 17 tackles. Little wonder Wales U20 coach Richard Whiffin hailed him as “a special player”.  The 6ft 3in Aberystwyth product has already started in the English Premiership for Gloucester. He appears to have a lot going for him.

Much the same can be said of schoolboy hooker Tom Howe. After the U20s’ game against France, former Wales No. 2 Scott Baldwin posted on social media: “Tom Howe to play for Wales within three years.” Rewind to 2019 and the same man predicted Dewi Lake would start for Wales at the 2023 World Cup; such a scenario came to pass. Wales will hope Baldwin continues to score high marks for prescience.

And just maybe he will, because at 18, Master Howe is mature beyond his years and a serious physical specimen. He scatters defenders with his short-range carrying and piles up tackles – there were 59 of them from him in the tournament. He also had a 90 per cent success rate with his throws, while against Italy, 14 Welsh players coughed up possession; Howe wasn’t among them.

Behind the scrum, the other joint skipper, Steffan Emanuel, also caught the eye, not least because of his smooth passing and exceptional pace, speed that saw the inside centre outrun opposition wings at various points in the tournament. When he touches the accelerator, others appear to be running through wet sand.

The former Millfield School captain also has a kicking game and rugby intelligence. After the U20s trained with the senior Wales team last month, full-back Blair Murray singled him out as a class player. There is scope for the 19-year-old to tighten his defence – only four players missed more tackles over the five rounds of matches – but other parts of his game are outstanding.

No discussion of the backs can be complete without mention of the much-talked-about Carwyn Leggatt-Jones. If X-factor moments are your thing, then the Llandovery College product should please you no end. Long-range drop-goals, 50-22s, chips over the top, cut-out passes – all are in CLJ’s armoury. The fly-half also has a big kicking game, a penchant for adventure and can appear blessed with a Zen calm when all around are reaching for the panic button.

At 18, he is still learning. Opponents charge him down more often than is good for a coach’s blood pressure and occasionally he can make questionable decisions. But every young fly-half needs to work at his game-management. The challenge for Leggatt-Jones and those guiding him is to eliminate those understandable creases, but his raw talent is not in doubt.

Tom Bowen?  He also has a taste for the audacious. The diminutive wing is quick, scores show-reel tries and can embarrass opponents who dare to slumber: not for nothing is he seen by some as half-man, half-motorbike. If defences might eventually become wise to his trademark kicks ahead, so far the tactic has served him well.

Others who could make headway include the second rows, Luke Evans and Osian Williams, with the former built like a thousand-brick outhouse and the latter carving out a reputation for his eagerness to learn and his work at lineouts, evidenced by three steals during the tournament.

The Bristol Bears player needs to fill out physically, but one former Wales international and close observer of the age-grade game described Williams to RugbyPass this week as a “spectacular prospect”.

Even Mozart, whom we might call a promising lad as a junior, had to put in the hours. Pressure will be part of the deal and so will expectation, some of it unfair.

Wales will hope a prop or two can also emerge, with the Scarlets having high hopes for tighthead Jac Pritchard. Italy pushed around the Welsh scrum in the second half, but early on Pritchard was on the front foot.

And there are admirers of the back-rowers Evan Minto, Dom Kossouth and Alex Ridgway, plus the tough (if smallish) openside Caio James, while it would be a surprise if we didn’t hear much more about the 6ft 4in Ospreys full-back Lewis Edwards, a player who is good in the air, clinical at breaking the opposition line and blessed with a fine understanding of the game. Whisper it, but he could go as far as any of the others listed here.

All useful prospects, then, but all with much work in front of them if ambitions are to be realised: even Mozart, whom we might call a promising lad as a junior, had to put in the hours. Pressure will be part of the deal and so will expectation, some of it unfair.

Rewind to an age-grade game in Wales being sold via a picture of a young Matthew Morgan and the caption: ‘Every legend has a beginning’.  Morgan, an exceptionally talented runner, had a fine career and won five Wales caps, but was it fair to laud him as a potential ‘legend’ before he’d properly achieved anything? No answer required there.

But, still, let’s hold out hopes for the current bunch. There are some significant talents among them. With a fair wind, just maybe a handful could go on and make names for themselves. For the sake of the senior Wales team, that needs to happen.