Wales Under 18s secured a perfect start to the big day of rugby league in the Bridgend area after comfortably beating the English Community Lions U18 at Maesteg RFC in hot temperatures on Saturday morning. This game was the first in a four-nations tournament also involving the under 18 sides from Ireland and Scotland. The first half was more of a competitive affair than the second with the score at 26-20 at the interval.

Wales were 20-4 up at one stage thanks to early tries from Chris Davies and Loren Quick, the first of a hat-trick of tries from the loose forward, who also converted three times. Dafydd Carter and Adam John also scored for Wales in the first half. England fought back hard and their determination was rewarded by first half tries from John Frodsham and Danny Gaskel, the two lynchpins in the England side, as well as one each for Mike Sharett and Josh Jackson. Ben Mullen kicked two conversions. Quick completed his hat-trick in the second half and Dan Godwin finished the scoring with a try as the pace slowed down due to the intense heat.

Quick took the plaudits but the game was virtually won by the pack. The second row pairing of Gavin Jones and Dan Crimmings, both new to rugby league, were both exceptional. Alex Webber and Rhys Fenton were also outstanding, replicating their excellent form for when they represented Celtic Crusaders in their National Youth League championship winning season.

Pictured: Loren Quick goes over for one of his three tries.

WALES U18
Phil Smith, Alex Webber, Rhys Fenton, Joe Merriman, Dan Godwin, Dafydd Carter, Adam John, Chris Davies, Kyle Blackmore, Tom Beaumont, Gavin Jones, Dan Crimmins, Loren Quick. Subs: Dale Blackmore, Grant Carney, Nathan Hawkins, Lloyd Jugessun, Joe Sproston

ENGLAND COMMUNITY LIONS U18
Mike Sharett, John Frodsham, Alex Ingarfield, Danny Gaskel, Josh Jackson, Ryan Hilliard, Ben Mullen, Dom Crosby, Ste Kiss, Cariern Clement, Garry Sargent, Josh Brown, Kurtis Marsh. Subs: Jake Cotterell, Tom Willoughby, Stuart Beattie, Josh Cook, Josh Ashby-Young