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Here are your rugby evening headlines for Thursday, June 25.
Tandy makes captaincy admission
Wales head coach Steve Tandy says that it wasn’t a “difficult” decision to keep Dewi Lake as his captain for this summer.
Jac Morgan has returned from injury, having led Wales in Tandy’s first game in charge against Argentina last November. Since then, Lake has captained the side – with Tandy choosing to stick with the hooker.
“I don’t think it was difficult,” said Tandy after naming his team to face the Barbarians this weekend. “I took my time to think about it but when I looked at it with Jac coming back in I think Dewi has done an outstanding job in Jac’s absence.
“I think the way Dewi has developed the links with the referees and the way he’s developed I thought it was right for the summer period that Dewi continued to do that.
“I had a conversation with Jac. I think it tells you everything about the character Jac is.
“He was like ‘I’m just honoured to be back in the squad.’ He’s a class human being and he’ll be right there alongside Dewi.
“It’s not just about Dewi it is about the other leaders like Josh Adams, Tommy and Joe Hawkins stepping up.
“So, I think we’ve got some amazing leaders there that all support each other.”
Wales U20s looking to avoid a repeat of off-field issues
Wales U20s have vowed to avoid a repeat of last year’s off-field issues as they prepare to start their Junior World Championship campaign.
Richard Whiffin has named his team to face hosts Georgia on Saturday, with the coach looking to build on last year’s eighth-place finish in the tournament.
That campaign was marred after some members of the squad were also accused of causing damage at the team’s hotel in Rovigo.
“Circumstances went against us,” Whiffin told the BBC. “We struggled with the team environment, and the hotel wasn’t conducive to the boys spending time with each other.
“We weren’t on the right side of results and that heightened the lack of connections, so that is something we have focused on.
“Me and (team manager) Andy Lloyd did a good recce of the hotel and know there are spaces that the boys can enjoy themselves in and stay tight, which I think will be seen throughout the tournament.
“The off-field things were blown out of all proportion but a few of the boys did some things that they regret and it wasn’t an indication of what the majority did.
“They have learnt from the experience and we have certainly spoken about the standards required of an international rugby player for Wales. The expectations for off the pitch as well as on it have been made clear.”
With only the pool winners progressing to the semi-finals, Whiffin knows his side have to start fast against Georgia and Uruguay before they take on South Africa.
Georgia will be a particularly difficult game, given the host nation beat New Zealand on Monday.
“We have to back ourselves in the first two games to give ourselves a ‘knockout’ game against South Africa,” said Whiffin.
“We are not disrespecting Uruguay or Georgia, because we know they are going to be incredibly tough, but we want to put ourselves into a game where there is real jeopardy.
“South Africa have some very talented players who will look to light up the tournament, but it is great for our boys to challenge themselves against the best.”
Whiffin added: “We are playing the tournament hosts in the first game and are expecting a hostile crowd, but the boys are excited by that.
“Georgia will be route one and will try to get dominance up front and in the collision area.
“We need to box smart and I believe we have the X-factor in our back line that will hurt anybody in the competition.
“We have spoken about improving on the Six Nations and winning in a red jersey, because we had good performances without getting the results. The first opportunity to do that is against Georgia.”
Wales U20s: Lewis Edwards; Rhys Cummings, Osian Darwin-Lewis, Steffan Emanuel (co-capt), Tom Bowen; Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Sion Davies; George Tuckley, Tom Howe, Jac Pritchard, Will Evans, Tom Cottle, Deian Gwynne (co-capt), Caio James, Evan Minto.
Replacements: Oscar Thomas, Dylan James, Yestyn Cook, Osian Williams, Sam Morgan, Cai Gealy, Lloyd Lucas, Dylan Scott.
Former Wales captain makes history
Former Wales captain Carys Phillips will make history this weekend when she starts for the Barbarians against Wales in London.
The 87-cap hooker will follow in the footsteps of her father, former dual code Wales international Rowland, in playing for the famous invitational club.
They are the first father and daughter to both play for the Barbarians.
The 33-year-old was previously coached by her father when he was in charge of Wales women – with the hooker also captain at that time.
Phillips was part of Sean Lynn’s Six Nations squad earlier this year, but didn’t feature in any of the matches.
Her last cap for Wales came in last year’s World Cup against Fiji.
She starts in a Barbarians pack on Saturday that boasts 228 caps.
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