Merged thread. Wales U18, SA U18, England U18, France U18 tournament in SA.

[Morgannwg]

First topic message reminder :

http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/22717.php

Wales Under 18 head coach Allan Lewis will take a development squad to South Africa in August in a new initiative to further enhance rugby development in Wales.

The side will play South Africa, England and France over an eight day period in what will be the first summer tour for Wales Under 18 since the side was created when the WRU amalgamated the Wales Youth and Welsh Schools Under 18 set-ups in 2004.
Lewis has selected a 34-man training squad which will be reduced next month after a period of training sessions. The decision to travel to South Africa and play these games was taken, in part as a result of the review undertaken following last year's Junior World Championship in Italy when Wales lost 92-0 to New Zealand and lost to Fiji.

Lewis said, "This festival of rugby will be a fantastic experience for this group of players. Not only will they gain from the training and preparation period leading up to selection in the first place, but those selected will get to play the likes of South Africa, France and England away from home in the southern hemisphere, benefitting from the whole experience both on and off the field.

"It will doubtless aid their development towards their potential inclusion in the Junior World Championship squad for next season and / or the following season as it will give the players a first, real taste of global rugby.

"Along with South Africa, France and England are two of the strongest teams in the world at age grade level, but the fact that we are playing these teams in South Africa itself will make it even more valuable, and potentially something we would like to organise on an annual basis."

The squad leaves for South Africa on Monday 6 August and returns on Sunday 19 August with games in Stellenbosch and George.

Wales Under 18 Development tour fixtures

Wales Under 18 Development XV v England - Fri Aug 10 Boland Rugby Stadium, Wellington, Stellenbosch
Wales Under 18 Development XV South Africa - Tues Aug 14 Outeniqua park Stadium, George
Wales Under 18 Development XV France - Sat Aug 18 Paul Roos School, Stellenbosch

Wales Under 18 Development XV training squad:

Forwards: Callum Jay Lewis (Blues), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Nicky Thomas (Ospreys), Jack Dunning (Blues), Rhodri Evans (RGC 1404), Alex Jeffries (Dragons), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Thomas Ball (Scarlets), Ethan Lewis (Blues), Joshua Helps (Scarlets), Lance Randell (Dragons), Sean O'Rourke (Ospreys), James Sheeky (Blues), Sion Bennett (Scarlets), Scott Matthews (Dragons), James Tomlin Reeves (Ospreys), James Benjamin (Dragons), Benjamin Roach (Blues), Scott Andrews (Dragons).

Backs: Connor Lloyd (Scarlets), Gareth Rees (Scarlets), Will Batcup (Ospreys), Jack Maynard (Scarlets), Ethan Davies (Dragons), Ryan Evans (Ospreys), Steffan Hughes (Scarlets), Ben Roberts (Ospreys), Craig Woodall (Scarlets), Dylan Morgan (Scarlets), Dafydd Wyn Howells (Ospreys), Lewis Hudd (Dragons), Jake Randell (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Dion Jones (Scarlets)

I support the initiative. But the Development XV tag is the thing that doesn't inspire me with confidence. I hope they put out the best teams available. It would have perhaps made more sense to put out a Development team against an SA club academy or College in a 'midweek fixture'.

I meant to post this sooner but it slipped my mind. I shall update this with results in August.

[Portnoy]

Captain Pierre Schoeman (prop, Affies) is one of four forwards who were retained for the match, alongside towering lock JD Schickerling (Paarl Gym), Thabo Mabuza (Centurion) and Jano Venter (HTS Middelburg).

Strong inside centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Waterkloof) and right wing Sergeal Petersen (Grey PE) are the only two survivors in an otherwise new backline, which will also see local player Warrick Gelant (fullback, Outeniqua HS) wearing the Green and Gold in front of his home crowd.

The South Africans beat France 17-7 in their first match in Wellington last Friday.

According to SA Schools coach, Chris October, it was always on the cards to rotate the players for the second match. “The changes were always part of the plan but we are confident that we will have good combinations in those areas of change. We had a good few sessions since Friday’s match and the boys are looking forward to play at Outeniqua Park which is such a good venue.”

October added the team learnt several lessons against France Under-18 in Wellington and that they have worked hard in training in an effort to correct those errors.

“We missed several scoring opportunities because of a lack of cohesion and our sometimes unwillingness to be more patient at times when the situation demanded it. Our hard work on defence kept the French side at bay for most of the match, but we will have to be much more clinical in our execution and our decision making against Wales.

“The Welsh showed in the second half what they are capable of and they ran England very close on Friday. Their set-pieces are good and they are not afraid to use the width of the field when on the attack, so we will have to be very alert in our defensive approach,” added October.



The SA Schools team versus Wales Under-18 in George on Tuesday:

15. Warrick Gelant (Outeniqua HS)
14. Sergeal Petersen (Grey HS PE)
13. Jurie Linde (Affies)
12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Waterkloof, vice-captain)
11. Matjikinyane Molapo (Ben Vorster)
10. Ryno Eksteen (Affies)
9. Akhona Sihunu (Dale College)
8. Jano Venter (HTS Middelburg)
7. Daniël du Preez (Kearsney College)
6. Thabo Mabuza (Centurion)
5. JD Schickerling (Paarl Gym)
4. Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (Affies)
3. Wilco Louw (HTS Drostdy)
2. Chad Solomon (Paul Roos)
1. Pierre Schoeman (Affies, captain)

Replacements:
16. Francois Esterhuizen (Overberg)
17. Dayan van der Westhuizen (Centurion)
18. Ox Nche (Louis Botha)
19. Abongile Nonkontwana (St Albans College)
20. Jean-Luc Du Preez (Kearsney College)
21. Justin Philips (Wateiated withrkloof)
22. Handré Pollard (cPaarl Gym)
23. Jesse Kriel (Maritzburg College)

Are any of these youths associated with franchises/pro-sides Bil?

[yappysnap]

The England team to play France:

15 Howard Packman (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)
14 Zach Kibirige (Yarm School) (Newcastle Falcons)
13 Nick Tompkins (Oaklands College) (Saracens)
12 Tom Stephenson (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints) (C)
11 Joshua Watkins (Bromsgrove School) (Worcester Warriors)

10 Sam Olver (Oundle School) (Northampton Saints)
9 Ollie Claxton (Adams Grammar School) (Unattached)

1 Alex Lundberg (Hampton) (London Wasps)
2 Sam James (Bishops Stortford) (Saracens)
3 Biyi Alo (Haileybury College) (Saracens)
4 Jake Oldaker (Wellington College) (Bath Rugby)
5 David Hughes (Twyford C&E High School) (London Wasps)
6 Maro Itoje (Harrow School) (Saracens)
7 Steve Uren (Filton College) (Bristol Rugby)
8 Joel Conlon (Ivybridge Community College) (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements

16 Gus Jones (Eton College) (London Wasps)
17 Harry Thacker (Leicester Grammar) (Leicester Tigers)
18 Charlie Ewels (Bryanston School) (Bath Rugby)
19 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Moulton College) (Northampton Saints)
20 Callum Braley (Hartpury College) (Bristol Rugby)
21 Nick Carpenter (Filton College) (Bristol Rugby)
22 Billy Burns (Hartpury College) (Gloucester Rugby)
__________________

Cumbrian I know absolutely nothing about this age grade so can you tell me if that's a good team? And just for my own info do you know if there are any Quins youngsters in the squads?

[yappysnap]

And is Nick Tompkins any relation to Joel Tompkins at Saracens?

[Cumbrian]

I'm not completely on the level with most of them mysel.

Maro Itoje  has been identified by Stuart Lancaster for the future, he is a big/ athletic lad who is good in the lineout. Think Courtney Lawes with a bit more bulk relative to their age (if I remember correctly Lawes was very willowy at U18, 6ft 6 and around 16 stone, whereas Itoje is already 17 and a half stone).

Joel Conlon is a dynamic carrier from the base and Exeter are expecting big things from him.

Thats about it I'm afraid. These guys seem unknown relative to some of the other years.

I wondered about the Tompkins connection but he is from Kent and Joel and Sam are from Milton Keynes/ Cheshire, so I doubt it.

[Biltong]

Portnoy, yes, most of them have been contracted to one of the Franchises, earlier in the thread I made a post with all those contracted to the Bulls.

[Biltong]

Portnoy

Ryno Eksteen signed for Western Province after the Bulls signed Handre Pollard
Jesse Kriel signed with the Bulls
Wilco Louw has signed for the Bulls
R janse van Rensburg have signed for the Bulls
Thabo Mbuza has signed for the Bulls
N Janse van Rensburg has signed for the Bulls
Pierre Schoeman has signed for the Bulls
Dayan v d Westhuizen has signed for the Bulls

Unfortunately I don't have info for the other provinces, but I can assure you they will all have been signed

[Smirnoffpriest]

Wales U18s (vs South Africa Schools, Tuesday 14 August): 15 Hallam Amos (dragons) 14 Ashley Evans (Ospreys) 13 Steffan Hughes (Scarlets) 12 Ben Roberts (Ospreys) 11 Dafydd Howells (Ospreys) 10 Jack Maynard (Scarlets) 9 Conner Lloyd (Scarlets) 8 Ben Roach (c) (Blues) 7 Scott Matthews (Dragons) 6 Sion Bennett (Scarlets) 5 Lance Randell (Dragons) 4 Josh Helps (Scarlets) 3 Nicky Thomas (Ospreys) 2 Ethan Lewis (Blues) 1 Callum Lewis (Blues)

Replacements: Tom Ball (Scarlets), Jack Dunning (Blues), Alex Jeffries (Dragons), James Sheeky (Blues), James Benjamin (Dragons), Joel Raikes (Blues), Craig Woodall (Scarlets), Ryan Evans (Blues)

Cheers SS, I've added the regions the players play for. Looks like some strong backs there, don't know much about the forwards, though I've heard Sion Bennetts name bandied about. It's good to see a good amount of Scarlets in there (7) and the team isn't as dominated by the Blues (7), though suprised to see only 4 Ospreys making the squad though I'd say the Dragons are doing pretty well at 5.

[ScarletSpiderman]

Wales U18s (vs South Africa Schools, Tuesday 14 August): 15 Hallam Amos (dragons) 14 Ashley Evans (Ospreys) 13 Steffan Hughes (Scarlets) 12 Ben Roberts (Ospreys) 11 Dafydd Howells (Ospreys) 10 Jack Maynard (Scarlets) 9 Conner Lloyd (Scarlets) 8 Ben Roach (c) (Blues) 7 Scott Matthews (Dragons) 6 Sion Bennett (Scarlets) 5 Lance Randell (Dragons) 4 Josh Helps (Scarlets) 3 Nicky Thomas (Ospreys) 2 Ethan Lewis (Blues) 1 Callum Lewis (Blues)

Replacements: Tom Ball (Scarlets), Jack Dunning (Blues), Alex Jeffries (Dragons), James Sheeky (Blues), James Benjamin (Dragons), Joel Raikes (Blues), Craig Woodall (Scarlets), Ryan Evans (Blues)

Cheers SS, I've added the regions the players play for. Looks like some strong backs there, don't know much about the forwards, though I've heard Sion Bennetts name bandied about. It's good to see a good amount of Scarlets in there (7) and the team isn't as dominated by the Blues (7), though suprised to see only 4 Ospreys making the squad though I'd say the Dragons are doing pretty well at 5.

Preist - by the sounds of it, going from bloke at work who coaches under 18s (local club, since they were u8s) he reckons certain players really should not even be in the Scarlets squad, let alone the welsh squad.

[Smirnoffpriest]

That's worrying! But we seem to have quite a bit of competition (in the backs at least) and lots of youngsters coming through, so you'd hope that the weaker ones are weeded out by the stronger players

[ScarletSpiderman]

Priest - it could well be that he was trying to carry a team in the local kids leagues, or trying not to show mates up etc, and with better players around plays better. Who knows.

[yappysnap]

I'm not completely on the level with most of them mysel.

Maro Itoje  has been identified by Stuart Lancaster for the future, he is a big/ athletic lad who is good in the lineout. Think Courtney Lawes with a bit more bulk relative to their age (if I remember correctly Lawes was very willowy at U18, 6ft 6 and around 16 stone, whereas Itoje is already 17 and a half stone).

Joel Conlon is a dynamic carrier from the base and Exeter are expecting big things from him.

Thats about it I'm afraid. These guys seem unknown relative to some of the other years.

I wondered about the Tompkins connection but he is from Kent and Joel and Sam are from Milton Keynes/ Cheshire, so I doubt it.

Cheers Cumbrian, well i'll keep my eye out for Itoje then. Sounds like the French were a bit too physical for us from what I can get on Twitter, did any one get any more info?

[Portnoy]

South Africa Schools v England U18. Kick off 4.00pm (BST), Friday August 7.

Should be over by now. Any news?

Scrub that. that was the fixture in 2009. (pillock)

[Portnoy]

Tuesday, August 14
SA Schools 2012
South Africa 24 - 16 Wales
France 20 - 13 England

http://www.sarfu.co.za/fixtures.aspx?leagueid=&vidcatid=&piccat=&newscat=&section=&year=


SA v W
http://www.sarfu.co.za/matchbreakdown.aspx?id=113251
Tries South Africa 3 - 1 Wales
Half Time Score South Africa 15 - 0 Wales

E v F
http://www.sarfu.co.za/matchbreakdown.aspx?id=113261
Tries France 1 - 2 England
Half Time Score France 10 - 10 England

No report found,

[BigTrevsbigmac]

Think it should be France 20 - England 16

If the score breakdown is correct. 2 tries 2 pens each but France converted their tries.

England went off like a train, both their tries in the first 4 mins.

[Morgannwg]

Wow talk about Wales the 2nd half team. Hope they can get that win in their final match. SA will probably finish undefeated but all these teams seem pretty close to each other in terms of ability during this 'development tour'.

[Biltong]

From Supersport.

The SA Schools rugby team won their second match of the Under-18 International Series by 24-16 against a lively Welsh team at Outeniqua Park in George on Tuesday evening after leading 15-0 at halftime.

The winning margin should have been much bigger but the home side’s kickers had an off day, with several easy kicks missing the target.

France scored a deserved 20-13 victory over England in the earlier match after losing to South Africa in their first match in Wellington.

The final round of fixtures will be played on Saturday at the UWC Sports Stadium in Bellville, one of the venues of the recently held 2012 IRB Junior World Championship. The SA Schools will play England and France will face Wales.

Handre Pollard, the Junior Springbok flyhalf, was introduced into play five minutes before the break in place of Affies pivot Ryno Eksteen, who had an unfortunate off-day with the boot. Pollard made an immediate impact and two of his breaks lead to two tries within the space of three minutes.

Sergeal Petersen (no 14) scored the opener and his second in successive matches and he was quickly followed by Matjikinyane Molapo (no 11) as well as powerful midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg (no 12), as the SA Schools team finally kicked into gear after struggling against the resolute Welsh defence.

Wales played much better in the second half and forced the SA Schools team into several errors. Flyhalf, Jack Maynard, kept his side in the match with accurate kicking. He succeeded with three penalties and also converted inside centre Ben Robert’s late try.

Pollard also landed three penalties to secure a deserved victory for the SA Schools.

The SA Schools’ backline was outstanding when in possession and Petersen and Janse van Rensburg were dangerous throughout. Wales made good impressions early on and their tactic, of stretching the SA Schools defence with some clever passing, provided the home team with several problems and a few tries were saved by some desperate defence.

However, Pollard’s introduction and a strong scrum gave the SA Schools a good platform for their win and they now head into the final match against England on Saturday with a fair amount of confidence.

THE SCORERS:

SA SCHOOLS: Tries: Sergeal Petersen (right wing), Matjikinyane Malopo (left wing), Rohan Janse van Rensburg (inside centre); Penalties: Handre Pollard (replacement flyhalf, 3).

WALES UNDER-18: Try: Ben Robertson (inside centre); Conversion, Jack Maynard (flyhalf); Penalties: Maynard (3).

[BigTrevsbigmac]

Few points below from RFU site -

England made 10 changes for the game against France and this was England's first defeat in 10 games stretching to almost a year, including a close game against the French.
The French had their full strength side out and were a big strong physical side.

[lammergeier]

Sargeal Petersen - Grey PE - 3 matches - 3 tries - a name for the future

[BigTrevsbigmac]

England out score Boks 5 tries to 3 but lose with 14 men. Wales & France play out a draw

From SA rugby website

SA Schools undefeated in four nations series
August 18, 2012
The South African Schools team remained undefeated in the International Under-18 series after beating England 36-29 at UWC Stadium in Bellville on Saturday.
They earlier in the series beat France in Wellington and Wales in George.

In an earlier match, France and Wales played to a 13-all draw.

In a very physical affair in Bellville, the accurate boot of captain and flyhalf Handrè Pollard was instrumental in his side’s win.

Pollard kicked five penalties and three conversions in the win and scored a great try himself after fooling the England defence with a dummy pass.

The English side played enterprising rugby at times and scored five tries, but were led down by ill-discipline. Pollard not only punished them on the scoreboard, they also lost lock Charlie Ewels to a red card after he conceded two yellow cards during the match.

Pollard kicked his first penalty in the opening minutes, before England scored through winger Josh Watkins. They created an overlap to put the strong running player in space and there was no stopping him after that.

Pollard then scored under the posts and converted to give his side the lead.

He missed two penalty kicks at goal, but after Ewels was shown his first yellow, Pollard kicked his third of the afternoon.

England did score thanks to good driving play by their pack, but a great individual try by midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg edged the SA Schools ahead again shortly after.

The strong centre crashed through a couple of defenders from 25 meters out.

Pollard kicked the conversion to give the SA team a20-10 lead at the break.

The second half saw two more Pollard penalties extending the lead.

England scored through centre, Tom Stephenson, but the home side struck back from the kick-off, working winger Sergeal Petersen over in the right corner.

Pollard duly converted and kicked another penalty as Ewels was send-off.

England did score twice, the last one by Zach Kibirige as the hooter went.

Scorers:

South Africa 36 (20). Tries: Handrè Pollard, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: Pollard (3). Penalties: Pollard (5).
England 29 (10). Tries: Josh Watkins, Joel Conlon, Maro Itoje, Tom Stephenson, Zach Kibirige. Conversions: Sam Olver (2).

[Morgannwg]

Well that's a wrap. Perhaps next year the unions can stage these games elsewhere, say in France.

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