Wales coach identifies the teen players you haven't heard of who are the best in years

Wales Online

13-05-2025

Wales coach identifies the teen players you haven't heard of who are the best in years
There is some serious talent in Welsh rugby's pathways
Lloyd Lucas is one of a number of bright young Wales talents coming through
(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd )
Wales U18s head coach Richie Pugh has identified a handful of players within the pathway he believes are potentially stars of the future.
Pugh took his Wales U18s team to Vichy in France for the U18s Six Nations festival where they finished unbeaten, brushing aside Ireland, Georgia and Italy. Much work has been put into the Welsh Rugby Union's pathway with the aim of producing more and better players over the next few years.
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Former Ospreys and Scarlets openside Pugh - who won a senior cap for Wales in 2005 and won the World Cup Sevens in 2009 - is confident many of this year's U18s cohort have huge potential and might even have force their way into contention for the U20s World Championship this summer.
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"There's boys who definitely put their hands up," Pugh told WalesOnline. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
"Both Carwyn Leggett-Jones and Lloyd Lucas at 10 were outstanding and both showed their game management prowess.
"I thought Rhys Cummings at full-back was excellent. He wasn't involved with us in August but brought his form at Cardiff & Vale College into the regional programme. I thought he was outstanding in that 15/14 position in our Six Nations campaign.
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"You've got to look at someone like Cerrig Smith. I put him in the same bracket as someone like Deian Gwynne who has gone about his business and captained the team.
"He hasn't had huge flashy moments but he was just like the cement of our team and led the team really well.
"There's boys there that could come in and experience a bit of the U20s training environment and who knows from there."
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The discussion at senior level currently centres around whether Wales has the size, athleticism and power up-front to compete with the top tier one nations.
But Pugh is adamant that, over the next few years, players with outstanding physical attributes will begin to filter into the professional game.
Wales U18s head coach Richie Pugh
(Image: Ian WIlliams/Huw Evans Agency )
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"We definitely have that profile of player within the pathway," he said. Join WalesOnline Rugby's WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
"Look at somebody like Osian Williams, who is a Newport boy playing over at Bristol. He needs physical development and needs to put on size but he has got height that we haven't had recently in Wales since Luke Charteris.
"There's boys like him. You look at your thicker-set boys and size. You've got Dom Kossuth and Cerrig Smith, who is a big, physical guy.
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"There's Noah Williams who has played at No 8. There's also Sam Williams who played for us last year but was injured for this campaign.
"He's a big ball carrying second-row. You look at those boys then who are second-rows in U20s who will be coming back next year.
"There's also Kai Jones, who is from a farming background in Lampeter.
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"He's a strong carrier who gets through a lot of unseen work. He causes so many niggly problems at maul time.
"He does so much work and chases everything down. He's making tackles and even scored an intercept try where he ran the length of the field.
"But he also scored a power try from short range where he carried three defenders on his back.
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"So, we have got that size within our pathways. It's about making sure they put the right size on and it's not just forced on them to carry that weight. We have got those boys.
"I suppose when you look at England and France they've got multiple numbers. We aren't blessed with the numbers of England and France, but we've definitely got the characters that we can build on with the right profiles."
The WRU are also keen to include more U19s fixtures because they have too limited a player pool at U18s level. Last month Wales U19s played a couple of fixtures against Ireland and Italy, which was seen as a success by the WRU.
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"What people may not realise is we are restricted on who we can pick with the U18s," Pugh told WalesOnline.
"I'm talking about the age band because we work from January to January. There are boys you see playing at regional U18s and the schools and colleges league and you wonder why they are not getting picked for our U18s.
"It's not a case of we don't want to pick them. It's just that's what World Rugby and the Six Nations put on the age profiling. It's January to January and it's always been that way.
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"This U19s group was hugely important for the boys who missed out at U18s but also can step into the U19s.
"Take someone like Tom Cottle as an example. He's still in school. He's just managed to break into the U20s this year but if he hadn't the U19s block is huge for someone like him to be able to make that transition from U18s to U20s.
"We are planning on introducing more standalone Wales U19s fixtures over the next couple of years against the likes of Ireland and France."
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There WRU have moved to make some positive changes to the pathway with regular skill clinics with players from the ages of 16-20 held regularly by coaches of the senior national side as one example.
But there is also a lot of work being done to stop the player drain to English schools and Pugh believes the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
"My view is it has got to be for the player," he said. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
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"It has got to be based on what they feel is best in terms of education and beyond rugby.
"The systems in place at the Welsh academies will make them better rugby players.
"I don't think going to these schools in England are going to make them better rugby players even though they look all singing and dancing.
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"I knew Steff Emanuel was a potential world-class player before he went to Millfield. There was never any doubt he had that quality but the education reasons and the experiences were brilliant for him.
"We have got to sell ourselves better in Wales and what we can offer.
"The benefits of staying in Wales are you get more access and the work we do in the academies is on their doorstep.
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"If you want to become a professional rugby player you don't have to go over the bridge. That's not always the best route.
"What's the best thing educational wise whether they are doing an apprenticeship, BTEC or A-Levels.
"It's about how we marry it all up together. We've got to be better at selling ourselves in Wales.
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"We are doing good work as are the schools and colleges.
"Look at the facilities Coleg y Cymoedd have got and the coaches within their programme along with the links with Cardiff.
"They are doing brilliant work but we don't champion it enough.
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"Both the WRU and the academies of the four regions are working well together. That is vital for the future of Welsh rugby."