Hayward names 11 Scarlets in U20 squad

A TOTAL of 11 Scarlets players have been named in Byron Hayward’s 36-man squad for the U20 Six Nations Championship.

There are seven forwards from the West Wales region, plus four backs.

The seven pack members are Josh Morse, Lewis Morgan, Isaac Young, Will Couch, Tomas Pritchard, Caleb Salmon and Luca Giannini.

They are accompanied by backs Archie Hughes, Harri Williams, Jac Davies and Kian Abraham.

Dragons back-rower Ryan Woodman will captain the side.

Head coach Hayward believes he has selected a strong squad for the campaign which sees Wales host Ireland at Stadiwm CSM on Friday in the opening round of matches.

“It is the strongest squad we could have picked because of recruitment,” he said.

“Our identification of this squad has been really thorough since last September and we’re in a totally different place to where we were 12 months ago.

“I’ve watched virtually every game these boys have played from September this season either by footage or watching the games.

“We’ve also had workshops, plus we had a match against Scotland pre-christmas and then we had Poland and we’ve also had two hit-outs against Cardiff Met and Pontypool in the last couple of weeks so preparation-wise I think we’re in a good place.

“We are inexperienced up front in the front five in terms of age and playing-wise at this level.

“But we have experience in the back line and it’s always the same every year, it is one or the other.”

Hayward had no hesitation in naming Woodman as skipper.

“I sought the opinion of all our staff because I think it’s important to make that process as thorough as possible because they see him in different respective areas,” he added.

“They see what they are like in the gym, what are they like off the field and on the field and Ryan was the overwhelming candidate.

“He commands his place in the team number one, but he’s one of those characters who leads by example.

“He’s a very quiet boy but what he says is mature and sensible and people listen and they will follow him so he was the overriding candidate.”

Aberavon’s Marc Breeze has joined the coaching team after Richard Kelly linked up with the Ospreys on a full-time basis.