Wales Under 18 men’s head coach Richie Pugh has named a 48-strong training squad for a three-day camp at Christ College in Brecon next week while Wales Women U18s head head coach Siwan Lillicrap has also confirmed an extended training squad.
The camp, which begins on Monday, is the next step towards Pugh selecting a 27 26man squad for the U18 Six Nations Festival being staged in Parma, Italy between March 27th – April 7th where Wales will play three games.
Before that tournament, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to stake a claim as Wales U18 host Scotland at Ystrad Mynach on March 3 while a Wales Development side will also face a Scottish Development squad in a curtain-raiser.
Wales U18 then play Ireland on March 10 for the players to have one final chance to impress Pugh as he trims the squad for Italy.
“The training camp is an opportunity for the boys to put their hands up for selection,” said Pugh.
“We’ve had a few touch points through the season, starting from the summer festival through to schools and colleges programme.
“We had a squad in preparing and training through camps in November and December and this is the culmination of the regional block where players have come in on the back of their form in regional games. In essence we’re hoping to see what they are like against each other to see if that can cope with the next level.”
Included in the training squad are six players who were capped at Wales U18 level last season while eight players currently engaging in the Exiles programme have also been selected to take part. In all, 27 players who have played in the Welsh Schools and Colleges league are included in the training camp.
“There is a big two months ahead for the boys in what is their first representative honours at U18 level,” concluded Pugh.
Wales Women U18s have announced an extended training squad of 42 players ahead of the forthcoming 2024 Six Nations festival in March and April.
Siwan Lillicrap, the former Wales captain and head coach of Wales U18s, has named an exciting training squad of the best young talent in the country based on players performances for clubs, regions and colleges so far this season.
The squad will meet up at the Welsh Rugby Union’s National Centre of Excellence on February 11th before heading for an intensive training camp at Christ College, Brecon. The squad will then be cut down to the 28 best players for the Six Nations festival.
The squad includes a dozen players from RGC, eight from Dragons, seven from Cardiff and six each from the Ospreys and the Scarlets. Three Welsh qualified players have also been named after being identified through the Welsh Exiles programme.
All the players selected have been identified and tracked through the WRU’s colleges and schools leagues, and the new exciting regional age-grade tournament.
Lillicrap, Wales U18s Head coach, said: “ We are excited to run an international U18s programme for the third consecutive season. We have seen a huge growth in players abilities and skill over the past season.
“The performances we have seen from regional teams and individuals within those teams has been fantastic and that is credit to the players application and commitment.
“I am very excited to work with this talented group and see how we can develop over the next couple of months ahead of the U18 Six Nations.”
