It's all change for Wales
Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:10
Wales Under-20 head coach Patrick Horgan has made 10 changes to the starting line-up for his side's Junior World Championship encounter with Japan at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea on Tuesday.
Wales beat Italy 29-10 last Friday and with five matches in 17 days, Horgan says it's about giving all the squad the chance to compete for a place in the side to face France in the final Pool D match on Saturday.
Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Biggar, Scott Andrews, Jevon Groves and Sam Warburton are the five players who keep their places, while fullback Daniel Evans (ankle), lock Haydn Pugh (ankle) and flank Dan Franks (shoulder) are nursing injuries but should be in contention for Saturday's showdown against France.
Centre Luke Ford will earn his first Under-20 cap after suffering a broken finger ahead of the Six Nations campaign, while prop Patrick Palmer, injured played for the Dragons at the end of the Magners League season, has returned to full fitness to take up a place on the bench.
Horgan said: "Some of the players coming in, such as Justin Tipuric and Lloyd Phillips, performed well for us throughout the Six Nations, while others such as Jason Tovey for the Dragons and Nathan Rees for Cardiff deserve their chance after impressing for their club or region.
"There is no reason for these players not to perform - all 26 players in the squad are capable of earning their place in the side to face France."
Horgan is looking for more accuracy in his side's performance Tuesday after missing chances against the Azzurri.
"We had a number of missed try-scoring opportunities against Italy so we have been working on our execution and accuracy ahead of the Japan game.
"However, Italy's defence was excellent and certainly kept them in the game.
"You are always looking for improvement but we are quite pleased overall with our first performance. Japan gave a good account of themselves against France and we will certainly give the side the respect they deserve on Tuesday.
"The crowd supported us well on [last] Friday and we hope we can give them something more to shout about on Tuesday."
Wales: 15 Jason Tovey (Dragons), 14 Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), 13 Luke Ford (Blues), 12 Rhys Williams (Scarlets), 11 Nathan Rees (Blues), 10 Dan Biggar (Ospreys), 9 Gareth Williams (Ospreys), 8 Sam Warburton (Blues, captain), 7 Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), 6 Lloyd Phillips (Scarlets), 5 Jevon Groves (Blues), 4 Ashley Sweet (Dragons), 3 Scott Andrews (Blues), 2 Ryan Prosser (Bristol), 1 Sam Hobbs (Blues).
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence (Ospreys), 17 Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), 18 Patrick Palmer (Blues), 19 Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), 20 Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), 21 Rhys Webb (Ospreys), 22 Gareth Owen (Ospreys).
Date: Tuesday, June 10
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Kick-off: 19.10 (18.10
GMT)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Touch judges: James Bolabiu (Fiji), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
