Wales head to the Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso on Friday evening as they look to bounce back after a brutal 63-19 defeat to France in the opening round.
Head coach Richard Whiffin has made four changes to his starting XV that played in Vannes last Saturday. Ioan Emanuel drops onto the bench as he is replaced by Louie Trevett. Dragons RFC, Nick Thomas who went off injured prior to halftime last weekend is replaced by Dan Gemine in the second row.
Within the backline, Osian Roberts is set for his U20s debut at outside-centre as he replaces Cardiff Rugby’s Elijah Evans who drops onto the bench. Speedster, Tom Bowen who came off the bench last timeout, comes into the starting XV as he replaces Harry Rees-Weldon.
Head coach, Whiffin said ahead of the trip to Italy: “The score-line didn’t really reflect how the game was.
“We felt we were in the game the whole time, so we’ve pushed on that and looked at the positives but obviously there are areas where we need to improve.
“We’ve gone through the game in large detail and there were lots of positives to come out of it. I thought our pack fronted up incredibly well.
“Up to 50 minutes we were right in the game but a couple of contentious decisions probably didn’t go our way. Yes, the wheels came off when trying to chase the game a little bit but I actually thought there was some really good elements from our team we can hang our hat on.
“We’re confident in every single game we go in to. We’ve got a good plan that we are going after. Italy are a big physical team but there’s opportunities for us to move them around and be smart with our kicking game and try and preserve some space for our outside backs to get on top of them,” concluded Whiffin.
Italy U20 vs Wales U20, Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Fri 7 Feb, 19.15, S4C
Starting XV:
15 Scott Delnevo (Aberavon)
14 Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears)
13 Osian Roberts (Sale Sharks)
12 Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff Rugby)
11 Tom Bowen (Cardiff Rugby)
10 Harri Wilde (Cardiff Rugby)
9 Logan Franklin (Dragons RFC);
1 Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears)
2 Harry Thomas (Scarlets)
3 Sam Scott (Bristol Bers)
4 Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol Bears)
5 Dan Gemine (Ospreys)
6 Deian Gwynne (Gloucester)
7 Harry Beddall (C, Leicester Tigers)
8 Evan Minto (Dragons RFC)
Replacements:
16 Saul Hurley (Aberavon)
17 Ioan Emanuel (Bath Rugby)
18 Jac Pritchard (Scarlets)
19 Tom Cottle (RGC)
20 Ryan Jones (Dragons RFC)
21 Sion Davies (Cardiff Rugby)
22 Harri Ford (Dragons)
23 Elijah Evans (Cardiff Rugby)
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