Head coach Richard Whiffin has named four Cardiff Rugby players in Wales men’s squad to take on hosts South Africa at the DHL Stadium in the 7th Place final of the U20 World Championship on Friday.
Lucas de la Rua and Matty Young both start, with Harri Wilde and Steffan Emmanuel named on the bench.
Overall there are six changes to the starting line-up, four in the pack and two in back-line.
Josh Morse and Kian Hire return to the front row in place of Jordan Morris and Sam Scott respectively, while Cardiff Met second row Gethyn Cannon gets his first start of the championship, with Nick Thomas dropping down to the bench while Cardiff Rugby’s Lucas de la Rua returns to openside flanker in place of Harry Beddall.
Dragons RFC’s Harri Ford replaces Harri Wilde who drops down to the bench while Dragons winger Walker Price gets his first taste of action after joining the squad after regional teammate Harry Rees-Weldon had his tournament ended through injury.
Ospreys No 8 Morgan Morse will become the most capped player at U20 level for Wales. He will surpass ex-Scarlets winger Ryan Conbeer’s record of 23 caps when he takes to the Cape Town pitch on Friday.
“It’s like an end of an era as this will be the last time this group will be together, some boys graduate and some boys will come back next year so this may be the last time some of these guys play with each other so hopefully they can finish this two year campaign off in a good way with a great performance,” said Whiffin.
“This is a great opportunity for the boys to take on the home team in their own back yard in the final game of the campaign. We’ve challenged the boys to come away with a southern hemisphere scalp and I know they will give it their best shot.
“It’s great to see Morgan get to 24 caps for Wales U20s. The fact he is going to break the record with another year to go shows his dedication from a young age. His ability to step up to the demands and as he has got older his dominance in games has become more prevalent. I’m really pleased for him.”
U20 World Championship 7th place final, DHL Stadium, Friday 19 July 1pm BST
Wales U20 v South Africa U20
1 Josh Morse (Scarlets)
2 Isaac Young (Scarlets)
3 Kian Hire (Ospreys)
4 Jonny Green (Harlequins)
5 Gethyn Cannon (Cardiff Met)
6 Ryan Woodman (Dragons RFC – Capt)
7 Lucas de la Rua (Cardiff Rugby)
8 Morgan Morse (Ospresys)
9 Rhodri Lewis (Scarlets)
10 Harri Ford (Dragons RFC)
11 Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears)
12 Louie Hennessey (Bath Rugby)
13 Macs Page (Scarlets)
14 Walker Price (Dragons RFC)
15 Matty Young (Cardiff Rugby)
Replacements
16 Harry Thomas (Scarlets)
17 Ioan Emanuel (Bath Rugby)
18 Sam Scott (Bristol Bears)
19 Nick Thomas (Dragons RFC)
20 Owen Conquer (Dragons RFC)
21 Lucca Setaro (Scarlets)
22 Harri Wilde (Cardiff Rugby)
23 Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff Rugby)