North Wales youngster picked for this Sunday's international between Wales and Scotland at St Helens
NORTH Wales youngster Alex Schwarz is gearing himself up to take on the cream of European youth rugby over the coming month after earning selection to the Wales under-18s.
Schwarz, who is a product of RGC 1404’s youth set-up and a pupil at Abbeygate school in Chester, was yesterday named in Gruff Rees’ 26-man U18s squad for the FIRA-AER European tournament in France and is on the bench when Wales take on Scotland this Sunday at St Helens (2.30pm).
Wales qualified for the FIRA-AER tournament’s Elite Group by beating Italy 26-12 last month and learned this week that they will face England in their semi-final which takes place in Auch on Sunday, April 17 (5pm).
The other semi-final will be between France and Ireland and depending on results in the first round, Wales will play either France or Ireland on Saturday, April 23 in Tarbes.
After initially losing 34-17 to France in their first qualification game, Wales followed up their win over Italy with a 39-27 victory over Japanese High Schools. They complete their preparation for the France-based tournament with the international match against Scotland U18 this Sunday.
Despite some disappointment at their first performance against France, Rees is now satisfied with the side’s progression.
“We’ve had a good amount of time with the group which we narrowed down from an initial squad of over 50 to 32,” said the head coach.
“Last month was valuable for us with the capped games against France and Italy giving us a good gauge on the team’s development collectively and individually.
“The friendly against Japan High Schools was also very beneficial because it gave us the chance to give game time to certain players so that everyone could stake a claim for a place in the FIRA-AER squad. Some players put their hands up in that game and have pushed their way into the 26-man group.
“We were disappointed with the performance against France, but improved against Italy, in attack and defence. We’d like to continue in that vein against Scotland this weekend, making further improvements ahead of the England game a week later. We would certainly hope for a much more polished and impressive home performance this weekend than a month ago when we played France.
“In terms of the team selection against Scotland, some players have been given extra game time, while we have kept the spine of the side that beat Italy as they played a smarter game than we showed against France. Others took their opportunities against Japan and have gained a spot.”
Looking further ahead, Rees is eagerly anticipating the FIRA-AER tournament.
He added: “Our emphasis this week is on preparing for Scotland, and continuing to lift our level of play and intensity, but the FIRA tournament will be a great experience for the players in learning about the expectations of international rugby both on and off the pitch, and understanding how they cope with those pressures.
“We haven’t set any targets in terms of results, but we want to see improvements in performance along with how we prepare and review games, learning all the time.”
The starting XV against Scotland contains eight members of the victorious Blues U18 squad that lifted the WRU Regional title in January.
WALES U18S V SCOTLAND: Cory Allen, Owen Jenkins, Ryan E Evans, Thomas Pascoe, Jack Randall, Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams, Thomas Davies, Jack Dando, Bradley Thyer, Jack Jones, Rhodri Hughes, Ellis Jenkins (capt), Daniel Thomas, Ieuan Jones. REPS: Evan Yardley, Calum Lewis, Daniel Suter, Sion Bennett, Lewis Young, Alex Schwarz, Rhys Patchell, Jordan Williams.
WALES U18 SQUAD – Backs: Rhodri Williams, Alex Schwarz, Josh Davies, Sam Davies, Rhys Patchell, Thomas Pascoe, Ryan E Evans, Jordan Williams, Ryan J Evans, Jake Randall, Owen Jenkins, Cory Allen. Forwards: Thomas Davies, Daniel Suter, Bradley Thyer, Evan Yardley, Elliot Dee, Jack Dando, Rhodri Hughes, Jack Jones, Daniel Thomas, Ellis Jenkins, Ieuan Jones, Lewis Young, Sion Bennett, Calum Lewis.
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