Cardiff Blues Regional Performance Manager Gafyn Cooper has confirmed the teams for the opening fixtures for Blues Under 18 and Under 16 South as the WRU Age grade Championship gets under way this weekend.
The Blues under 18s face Gwent Dragons on Sunday 4th September at Sardis Road (kick off 12.00noon).
Team:
Ceri Llewellyn (Radyr), James Egan (Whitchurch), Phil Williams (Whitchurch), Luke Ford (St Davids), Gareth Jones (Barry College), James Thomas (Radyr), Gareth Williams (Colstons)
Sam Warburton (Whitchurch), Dan Franks (St Davids), Jevon Groves (Y Pant), Mazin Alazawi (Porth), Matthew Gardner (Brecon High), Patrick Palmer (Y Pant), Huw Dowden (Tonyrefail), Tom Price (Builth High)
Replacements
Rhys Dyer (Kings Monkton), Matthew Edwards (Pontypridd College), Christian Dacey (Neath College), Louis Rappa (Llanrumney), Scott Andrews (Y Pant), Rhodri Jenkins (Y Pant), Chris John (Treochy Comp)
Players play for clubs from all around the region. In the squad for the first game Llandaff North, Rumney, Penarth, Ferndale, Ystrad Rhondda, Brecon, Gilfach, Builth, Merthyr, Llantrisant, Beddau and Treochy are all represented.
Cardiff Blues South Under 16s kick off their campaign first on Saturday (3rd September) against Ospreys at Llanrumney Playing Fields (ko 11.00am) with Flanker Cory Hearne leading the team as captain.
Team:
James Loxton, Jamie Jones, Joe Geberis, Lloyd Collier, Soloman Matthews, Luke Fear, Lloyd Williams, Daniel Holliday
Carl Fish, Kyle Harry, Ryan Moore, Owen Sedgebeer, Liam Usman, Cory Hearne (C), Rhys Meredith
Replacements:
Freddie Wilson, Joe Deacon, Peter Hughes, Chris Grant, Michael Paglioni, Leon Williams, Luke O'Brien
Welsh Rugby Union is delighted to announce that Reebok has decided to extend its sponsorship of the WRU Reebok Regional Championships for a further three years.
With Rob Howley again acting as ambassador for the sponsors, Reebok has indicated its desire to further invest in the competition which enjoyed a spectacular first season.
Culminating in Llanelli Scarlets winning all three finals under 16, under 18 and under 20 the competition set high standards throughout the season and underpinned the Unions high performance strategies for age grade rugby.
Mostyn Richards, High Performance Manager for the WRU, said, The Scarlets set the benchmark for the other regions with their intuitive play, total commitment, Premier Division support for the competition and management expertise.
Once again, these competitions will provide the breeding ground for our National Age Grade players at Under 16, 18, 19 and 21. All national age grade teams have extremely tough programmes this season and this competition will certainly help us prepare our players for the challenges that lie ahead.
We are extremely grateful to Reebok for its continued support and we are looking forward to a season as good as if not better than last.
The players, coaches managers and professional staff need to raise the bar so we can witness a continual improvement process at age grade level.