Wales U20 restore starters for South Africa shoot-out

Wales have reverted to the side that beat hosts Georgia for their winner-takes-all Junior World Championship fixture against South Africa on Tuesday.

Richard Whiffin’s side will qualify for the semi-finals if they cause an upset against the champions at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi (15:00 BST).

The head coach rotated his starting line-up for the round two victory against Uruguay when captain and blind-side flanker Deian Gwynne and full-back Tom Bowen were retained.

They feature for a third game on the bounce, with Cardiff’s Bowen returning to his usual position of wing.

They opt for six forwards on the bench, including Bath number eight Alex Ridgway after he scored two tries in an impressive performance against Uruguay.

Wales are braced for a tough encounter with a South Africa side who have run in 21 tries when beating Uruguay and Georgia with bonus points.

“They are big and physical, and they want it to be a collision dominant based game – we know we have to front up,” said Whiffin.

The Junior Boks have the edge in Pool A courtesy of their extra bonus point and Wales will go into the fifth to eighth play-offs if they fail to upset the odds.

Wales Under-20s: Lewis Edwards (Ospreys); Rhys Cummings (Cardiff), Osian Darwin-Lewis (Cardiff), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff), Tom Bowen (Cardiff); Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (Scarlets), Sion Davies (Cardiff); George Tuckley (Dragons), Tom Howe (Cardiff), Jac Pritchard (Scarlets), Will Evans (Scarlets), Tom Cottle (Cardiff), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester, capt), Caio James (Gloucester), Evan Minto (Dragons).

Replacements: Oscar Thomas (Bath), Dylan James (Ospreys), Yestyn Cook (Scarlets), Luke Evans (Exeter), Osian Williams (Bristol), Alex Ridgway (Bath), Cai Gealy (Bristol), Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff).