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Friday’s fifth-place play-off at the World Rugby U20 Championship against Scotland will bring the curtain down on Deian Gwynne’s Wales U20s career.
The uncompromising back-row forward has been one of Richard Whiffin’s most influential performers over the past two seasons, earning widespread admiration for his relentless work rate, abrasive physicality and natural leadership.
Those qualities have not gone unnoticed. Gwynne was invited to Steve Tandy’s Wales alignment camp earlier this summer, and Whiffin believes the 20-year-old has the potential to force his way into Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad next year.
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Gwynne, however, remains grounded. While his immediate focus is on finishing his Under-20 journey on a high, he readily admits that wearing the senior Wales jersey on the biggest stage is an ambition he is determined to pursue.
“I like to take it game by game but everything happens so quickly nowadays,” he said.
“That obviously is a wish in my mind but I want to take it game by game and that goes no further than Scotland on Friday.
“That’s what you dream of doing as a kid. You watch it on TV and that’s what you want to be a part of.
“I’ll keep working hard and hopefully things happen.”
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Being included in Wales’ senior alignment camp was a significant vote of confidence for Gwynne, reinforcing his belief that he can continue progressing towards the highest level.
More than anything, the invitation underlined the fact that Gwynne is firmly in Tandy’s thinking as Wales continue to identify players capable of making the step up to the international game.
“Yes, 100% I think it gives extra motivation as well,” he said.
“Ultimately you get a feel for it and what it is like to be at international level. Ultimately that’s why you work hard every day and that’s what you want to achieve.
“It gave me that something extra to work on.
“As it was out of the international window I wasn’t able to put my boots on but it was a really good opportunity for me to be part of the meetings and stuff.
“There was so much learning about the game at international level. It was amazing to meet all of the coaches and players.”
With his Wales U20s career drawing to a close, Gwynne will return to Gloucester intent on building on the encouraging progress he has already made at Kingsholm.
The Aberystwyth-born back-rower has already broken into Gloucester’s senior side in the Gallagher Premiership and is held in high regard by head coach George Skivington.
His next objective is to establish himself as a regular in Gloucester’s starting XV, a platform that will likely propel him onto the senior international scene.
Gloucester already have a number of Welsh players with the likes of Josh Hathaway, Freddie Thomas, Max Llewellyn and Wales U20s openside Caio James at the club.
But Gwynne will be joined by Wales stars Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan next season.
“I’ll be in the deep end of senior rugby when I go back to Gloucester to prepare for next season,” he said.
“We’ve got Jac Morgan coming to bolster our back row and having the best players around you is the best way to learn.
“I’m just looking forward to what the men’s game has to offer. It’s a case of keeping on working hard and hopefully things will happen.
“Having trained against them (Morgan and Lake) a few times with the U20s against the seniors sessions I had a few conversations with them and in the alignment camp.
“It is nice that they are Welsh speakers as well. It’ll be handy to have a few more Welsh speakers up there.
“They’ll be excellent, especially for me to learn so much off Jac. It will be handy to pick his brains and stuff.”
Before turning his attention back to Gloucester, however, Gwynne is determined to help Wales U20s secure their highest finish at the World Rugby U20 Championship since reaching the final in 2013.
Wales have won three of their four matches this summer and claimed a significant scalp with last weekend’s victory over Australia, a result that underlined the progress made by Richard Whiffin’s side.
Gwynne believes they have one final statement to make against Scotland and is confident Wales can end their campaign on a winning note.
“What an opportunity we have on Friday as a group to go and achieve something the team hasn’t achieved since 2013,” he said.
“We’ve got another strong mindset going into the game and ultimately it is the last chance we’ve got to play together as a group.
“We are really up for it.
“We’ve got a really strong group of coaches, and we’ve learned a hell of a lot working under them.
“They’ve done an excellent job in this campaign. I’ve loved playing for Wales U18 and U20 and I will probably be a bit emotional on Friday when it all comes to an end.
“But what I do know is that I’ve learned a hell of a lot in those three or four years.
“The challenge for us older boys who will be moving on after this tournament has been in how we can help set-up the younger boys for the rest of their U20 journey so they can hopefully do better again.”
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