‘SCARLETS PAIR CAN HELP WALES TO A GOLDEN ERA’
SAM Warburton says the time has come for a new breed of ‘iconic’ Wales players to drive the next golden era for Welsh rugby – and insists two Scarlets can be at the forefront of that.
Former Wales and Lions skipper Warburton believes Liam Williams and Johnny Williams – plus Hendy’s Josh Adams – can lead the charge in the coming years.
He also feels scrum-half Tomos Williams is part of that group.
Warburton said full-back Williams can be the glue who holds the team together, bridging the Warren Gatland years with new Wales as they build towards the next World Cup.
Wayne Pivac picked a hugely experienced team for the Six Nations opener with Ireland, with a glut of players the wrong side of 30 getting the nod.
They included Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Biggar, Ken Owens, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric.
Each of those have played key roles in what became a Welsh golden era under Gatland, with Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-final appearances.
But at some point Pivac is going to have to start phasing out the old guard to plan for the future as well and Warburton has urged some of Wales’s younger players to start seizing their chance.
“We need to start unveiling who are the next crop of iconic young players who are going to take this amazing red jersey we’ve got for the next 10 years,” Warburton told Eddie Butler’s Six Nations TV show for the BBC.
“I think there are some youngsters emerging who can put their hand up and do that.”
Asked by Butler, another former Wales skipper, who they were, Warburton continued: “My bolter for the Lions tour, and I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, is Johnny Williams.
“I really like him, think he’s a really good player at 12.
“Tomos Williams at nine, Josh Adams has been fantastic for Wales the past couple of years.”
He continued: “Liam Williams is around too. He’s going to be really important, I think, because he’s one of those top-class players we’ve got who are going to bridge the last era and the new era.
“He’s got another years left in him.” five, six, seven
In his 30th year, Williams is older than the other players Warburton talks glowingly of and it remains to be seen whether he will last as many years at the top as the ex-lions and Wales skipper predicts.
HARRI Reynolds, the young Narberth karting star who has been making a name for himself in Britain and European kart racing, will be moving up to car racing for the 2021 season.
He will be contesting the Ginetta Junior Championship.
An intense three-day competition in mid-december saw 65 young drivers battle it out at Ginetta’s own test track, Blyton Park in Lincolnshire.
Competing for one of the biggest prizes in UK motorsport, the entrants completed a number of driving, fitness and media assessments.
Overseeing proceedings were Ginetta factory drivers Mike Simpson and Charlie Robertson, while helping assess the drivers’ in-car talents were Ginetta alumni Max Coates, Jake Hill, Ben Green and Sennan Fielding, plus James Littlejohn and James Gornall.
Off-track, the entrants were put through their paces with a number of physical challenges to test their fitness and determination, while Richard John Neil, the lead Ginetta commentator for ITV, evaluated their media and communication skills.
Just 27 of the hopeful drivers made it through to the final day of competition, where they tackled more evaluations before the field was narrowed down to a top eight and then a top four, who tackled a final shootout behind the wheel of a Ginetta G40.
Although Harri, at just 14 years of age, did not make the two awardwinning places, he did remarkably well to get into the final four from the 65 who began the competition, and also attracted the attention of a number of teams who would be running cars in the 2021 championship, which has proved to be a fantastic opportunity for young up-and-coming racing drivers to move up a level in motorsport.
As a result his father Julian Reynolds, himself a successful driver in his career in special stage rallying, found himself in discussion with teams who were running cars in the 2021 championship.
Ashley Gallagher, Ginetta motorsports manager, said: “We seem to say this every year, but once again this feels like it’s been the most competitive and close-fought Ginetta Junior Scholarship we’ve ever had.
“The level of talent and professionalism in the entrants this year was extremely high, and our two winners could not be separated, hence both being awarded supported drives.
“Both were exceptional throughout the contest, on and off track, and the final decision-making progress led to us choosing to support both drivers.
“It’s an unprecedented moment in Ginetta history and we’re delighted to be able to welcome them to the grid this year, and that they’ll be joined by a number of the other talented drivers who contested the scholarship.”
That grid will now see Harri driving in the Ginetta Junior championship with Assetto Motorsport this year. The championship is a support series for the British Touring Car Championship and all the Sunday races are shown live.
Julian said: “Harri did getting into the top four.
“Despite not winning he made a really well good impression and a few teams were keen for him to race this year and somehow it all came together.”
Assetto Motorsport have signed Harri to join the returning Joe Wheeler for their challenge on the 2021 Ginetta Junior Championship, the twotime Ginetta G40 Cup title-winning team making their junior debut last season with Wheeler, a 17-year-old from Lancashire.
Reynolds has made a name for himself in UK Minimax karting, including being the top rookie in the 2019 British Kart Championship.
Team manager Jim Edwards said: “The whole team at Assetto Motorsport
are delighted to be expanding our presence in the Ginetta Juniors this year.
“We had a great season last year and can’t wait to see what we can achieve in 2021.
“Our expanded team will be targeting podium finishes, and we are excited to welcome Harri Reynolds to the team.
“His raw caught our scholarship.
“Harri has had a successful karting background and we are looking forward to helping him to continue this in Ginetta Juniors.” speed attention immediately during the