Wales Under 18s kept up their impressive record in meetings with England Lions after a 40-10 win at Taff’s Well RFC.

A flurry of second half tries proved telling as the hosts made it four wins from five in this fixture, ahead of a return visit in two weeks time.

Following a physical exchange of opening sets, Courtney Davies' high kick was spilled and, after Osian Phillips went close, Wales moved the ball left for Jordan Howells to slide over. Davies converted to give the host a six point advantage after eight minutes.

The Lions enjoyed a fair share of possession during the first half, but wasted promising field position through handling errors. Much to their credit, they defused fifth-tackle kicking situations admirably to prevent the home side from extending their lead.

A moment of controversy ensued on the half-hour mark as Howells raced out of the line to quell an overlap, but the centre’s shoulder charge was penalised only, and from the penalty England were again denied by a forward pass on the left edge.

A feature of Wales’ play was the timely addition of Chris Leyshon into the line; following a penalty for offside, Davies was able to pass under pressure and find Bradley Mais, who found Leyshon on his shoulder to unlock the Lions defence.

With England needing a spark, interchange hooker Nick Ratcliffe’s first involvement in the game was to dart out of dummy half and breach the Welsh defence for the first time. The Leigh East man kept calm and found Jamie Tracey in support to cross next to the posts.

Howells was again at the centre of things as the second half started – clever footwork saw him break free but was unable to retain possession in contact. The South Wales Scorpions centre continued to threaten, and was denied a second as he lost control of the ball as he attempted to squeeze over in the corner.

Stern defence from the home side also provided the tireless Rhys Fitzgerald with room to charge up-field, but a knock-on from Jordan Sheridan prevented Wales from capitalising on the break.

Yet the hosts were to make the pressure tell; Mais identifying a mismatch in numbers on the short side, and having come from left-to-right, offloaded out of the back of his hand to release wing Lewis Stockton in the corner.

Following Leyshon’s second, Wales scored two tries in quick succession courtesy of their second rows – Mais again showing his Wigan calibre by forcing his way over from close range, and TJ Collin doing likewise as Wales surged downfield following the restart.

Yet the community side continued to compete and were immediately rewarded – a third try in a short period saw Alex Rudd dive over for his side’s second of the afternoon – however Wales were to have the final say as Thomas Davies slid in at the corner, before Josh Williams fielded a short England restart to wrap up the victory.

Pictured: Ossian Phillips in action.
Picture credit: Ian Lovell.
 
WALES U18
Chris Leyshon, Lewis Stockton, Matthew Davies, Jordan Howells, Kyle Moore, Courtney Davies, Jordan Sheridan, Michael Connor, Connor Farrer, Osian Phillips, TJ Collin, Bradley Mais, Rhys Fitzgerald, Ollie Vickers, Jac Griffiths, Rhys Finney, Thomas Davies, Josh Williams

ENGLAND LIONS U18
Nathan Lawrence, Scott Pink, Tom Whittle, Declan Tomlinson, Hershal Ward, Christian Tyson, Lennox Green, Tom Fletcher, Matty Henson, Shaun Mumberson, Leon Tatlock, Jamie Tracey, Charlie Tomlinson, Nick Ratcliffe, Charlie Hughes, Alex Rudd, Reece Needham