“We just can’t wait to get into action. What happened last weekend, with both the Wales Under 21 team and the National side winning Grand Slams, has given us all a huge boost,” said Gustafson, who was a member of last year’s Welsh squad that won this competition for the sixth successive season. “There is a great buzz about the camp and we were all extremely excited and motivated by what we saw at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
“We realise that this is a development tournament for all the players involved, but we want to keep Wales’ winning run going in both this competition and from this season.
“What we want is another Grand Slam to add to those already secured by the Under 21s and Michael Owen’s full Welsh side. That is our goal.”
Gustafson is the epitome of the aspiring young professionals to be found throughout Welsh rugby these days. A student at Coleg Sir Gar, he watched last weekend’s wonder win over Ireland at home with his family before retiring to his bedroom to catch up on some homework. On Sunday, he was out training with his Welsh team mates and hasn’t joined in any of the Grand Slam celebrations that have engulfed the nation. His focus is clear – helping Wales beat Ireland at Ebbw Vale on Saturday, England at Dunvant next Tuesday and Scotland at Pontypridd on Friday, 1 April.
“I got goose-bumps watching the way Wales played against Ireland. It is awesome seeing the players using their skills and playing in such an attacking way,” said Gustafson. “We all dream of making the grade and playing for Wales at the Millennium Stadium in the future and this is the starting point for us.”
Already this tournament has helped to launch the international careers of three of Wales’ Grand Slam heroes. Ryan Jones, Gavin Henson and Jonathan Thomas have all graduated from the Under 18 competition to the senior side. Other internationals who started at this level include Paul James and Andy Williams, while other quality players off the production line include Richie Pugh, Andy Powell and Matthew Jones.
“There is no doubt that the players of 2005 are light years ahead of the ones I played with in the Welsh Schools side of the same age back in the late eighties,” said Paul John, the former Pontypridd and Wales scrum half who is an assistant coach to Kevin George with the current side. “They have far more professional attitudes and they demand so much more from us as coaches and from the environment the WRU has created for them. They fully embrace the fitness, diet and lifestyle demands that are placed on them and they are far more physically advanced than in previous years.
“There were a number of players who I played with at Under 18 level who made the grade into the senior Welsh side. But I can see a lot more potential internationals in this current squad.
“They are highly motivated, well prepared and play a similar brand of rugby to the Grand Slam sides at Under 21 and senior levels. They are well worth watching.”
Already this season they have beaten the Italians 37-16, beaten the French on home soil for the first time in over a decade and shared the honours with England in two non-cap warm up matches.
Gustafson led the majority of this squad to a 39-17 victory over England’s older age players, while the group of players who will represent England in Wales over the next week clawed their way back from 10-0 down to secure an impressive 25-15 win over Wales’ older aged side.
It all adds up to another fascinating challenge for Welsh rugby, and one which Gustafson and his team mates are ready to meet head on.
