Richard Whiffin will announce his squad for the World Rugby U20 Championships on Tuesday 17 June having spent a few sleepless nights mulling over his options.
He has been able to run the rule over 45 players during a training camp that included warm-up matches against England and Italy, and was delighted to be able to wrap things up with a seven try demolition of the Italians in Cardiff last weekend.
The 47-19 victory at the Arms Park featured a brace of tries from each wing, Aidan Boshoff and Ioan Duggan, and raised the mood and expectations after a 47-14 defeat to England a week earlier in Pontypool.
“I was delighted because it was a really disciplined performance. The players stuck to the plan for the whole 80 minutes even though there were opportunities for the game to get a little bit loose,” said Whiffin.
“Our kicking game was disciplined and when there was space we went after it. There have been 45 players working so hard and they have made my job pretty tough to pick a squad.
“They kept their shape even though there were plenty of changes in the game. The first half team delivered the plan and set the stage, and the boys came on and added energy.
“We knew that the game against England was going to be tough because we were still in a huge training block and the players were going into it fatigued. At 60 minutes it was 14-14, but then we fell off a cliff.
“We treated the game against Italy as a proper test week, and I think the boys were fresher and we saw that in an excellent 80-minute performance.”
Harri Wide came on at outside half in the second half to prove his fitness after a hamstring injury and Osian Darwin-Lewis slotted in well at centre alongside his Cardiff clubmate Steff Emanuel. Whiffin was also able to changer all three rows of the scrum as the game went on.
“We have got strength in depth across a number of positions that is gave us a few selection headaches,” he added.
“With the sort turn around between games at the World Cup it forces players to be flexible. Having the ability to use different combinations and to bring strength off the bench, or rotate a team, will pay dividends.
“The ability for us to rotate or be proactive with our subs is going to be key out in the heat in Italy. It is going to be tough, especially for the tight five, so the ability to keep their minutes down where possible will be important.”