\n The Welsh youngsters get their campaign under way against Argentina tomorrow\u00a0(kick-off 7.30pm) and all five Rodney Parade prospects feature in Verona.\n<\/p>\n
\n New signing Harry Beddall captains the side from openside and is joined in the back row by Minto, Nick Thomas starts at lock and Harri Ford pulls the strings from fly-half, with tighthead Owain James on the bench.\n<\/p>\n
\n Abercarn\u2019s Jack Woods and Abergavenny-born Aidan Boschoff, both former Monmouth School pupils and now with Bath and Bristol respectively, line up at full-back and wing.\n<\/p>\n
\n Towering Thomas, who made three senior Dragons appearances last season, makes a first start since suffering a serious ankle injury against France in February.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNick has worked hard to get back from the injury he had in Six Nations,\u201d said head coach Richard Whiffin, who brought the lock off the bench in the warm-up win against Italy.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe offers a level of experience in the second row against what we know is going to be a formidable Argentina pack.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Wales face the young Pumas and then take on group favourites France on Friday before a clash with Spain.\n<\/p>\n
\n Whiffin\u2019s side head into the tournament buoyed by their Six Nations displays when they edged out Italy, stunned Ireland at Rodney Parade and then denied England a Grand Slam and the title with a remarkable performance at Cardiff Arms Park.\n<\/p>\n
\n INFLUENTIAL: Evan Minto on the charge for Wales U20s (Image: Mark Lewis\/Huw Evans Agency)\n<\/p>\n
\n Minto, a firm fixture in the XV, believes their togetherness will be key in a tournament that will stretch the squad with five games in 20 days.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe are just a side that works really hard for each other and we know that, on our day, we can put in a performance to beat anyone,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe are a group that works hard for each other and doesn\u2019t give up and the atmosphere in the camp is really good. We have a laugh together but also know when to switch on.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that spirit is something that can be coached into a team and it\u2019s almost that we clicked as soon as we came together.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere are no cliques, we are willing to work hard for the player next to us and we help each other even when competition is strong for places.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Minto will lead the charge for Wales at the end of a hectic season.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 19-year-old from Griffithstown made three senior Dragons cameos and featured for the development side, played for Pontypool in Super Rugby Cymru, Hartpury in the English Championship plus started all five Six Nations games and the two warm-up fixtures.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long season but really enjoyable,\u201d he said. \u201cI have been playing for a full year but I\u2019ve had a smile on my face no matter who I\u2019ve been playing for or what the opposition is. I\u2019ve learnt so much and that is what keeps driving me on.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Wales U20:<\/strong> Jack Woods (Bath, 2 caps); Elijah Evans (Cardiff, 7 caps), Osian Roberts (Sale, 3 caps), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff, 10 caps), Aidan Boshoff (Bristol, 11 caps); Harri Ford (Dragons, 14 caps), Sion Davies (Cardiff, 4 caps); Ioan Emanuel (Bath, 8 caps), Harry Thomas (Scarlets, 15 caps), Sam Scott (Bristol, 15 caps), Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol, 5 caps), Nick Thomas (Dragons, 11 caps), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester, 4 caps), Harry Beddall (captain, Dragons, 11 caps), Evan Minto (Dragons, 5 caps).\n<\/p>\n \n Replacements: Saul Hurley (Aberavon, 2 caps), Louie Trevett (Bristol, 5 caps), Owain James (Dragons, 3 caps), Dan Gemine (Ospreys, 4 caps), Caio James (Gloucester, 3 caps), Ellis Lewis (Neath, uncapped), Harri Wilde (Cardiff, 17 caps), Tom Bowen (Cardiff, 5 caps).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Welsh youngsters get their campaign under way against Argentina tomorrow\u00a0(kick-off 7.30pm) and all five Rodney Parade prospects…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-220637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114759595810575516","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}