Under-20 Decider in Round 3?
It is a home match for Wales, which may help, and it is up at what has become their home ground, Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.
Results Week 1
Scotland vs England, 24-6
Wales vs Ireland, 35-24
France vs Italy, 40-3
Round 2 Results
Wales vs Scotland, 18-15
France vs Ireland, 34-13
England vs Italy, 42-7
Wales vs France
Their common foe after the first two rounds is Ireland whom Wales beat by 11 points in Ireland and France beat by 21 points in France.
Wales have made three changes to their side. In comes Billy McBride who came on as a substitute in the last minute against Scotland and kicked the winning penalty. George Gasson of the Dragons comes onto the wing and Adam Beard into lock, freed by the Ospreys. Three others are playing in the Pro 12 – flyhalf Dan Jones for the Scarlets scrumhalf Jarrod Evans for the Blues and centre Owen Watkin for the Ospreys.
Coach Jason Strange said: "The boys have taken a lot of confidence from the performances and results of the first two matches. Their hard work as a team paid off in coming back from behind to win both games.
"We are very much looking forward to this crunch match with both teams undefeated to date in the tournament. We are starting to play well as a team, and it's fantastic to see the individual progress of many of the players as a result of being exposed to this level of rugby.
"It's disappointing not to be able to select from full strength but once again, the situation give others the chance to show what they can do at this level. It's important we get the best out of the players individually and collectively this weekend.
"France will pose a huge challenge on Saturday night. They have a formidable pack, a good driving game and have scored in their two games to date so we will need to be bold and creative in order to overcome the challenge. The match will certainly be a step up from the last two games so it will be a test of the character of the side but that is what we want in order to develop the players and maximise their potential."
France's have also three changes to their side. Atila Septar comes off the bench to take over from Damien Penaud at outside centre, Antoine Du Pont comes into the scrumhalf and Baptiste Pesenti moves into flank in the place of Mathieu Voisin who drops to the bench.
Teams
Wales: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 George Gasson, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Harri Millard, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Billy McBryde, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Shaun Evans, 6 Tom Phillips (captain), 5 Bryce Morgan, 4 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dafydd Hughes, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Bryce Morgan, 20 Morgan Sieniawski, 21 Declan Smith, 22 Kieran Williams, 23 Joe Gage
France: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Eliott Roudil, 13 Atila Septar, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Gabriel N'Gandebe, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Judicaël Cancoriet, 6 Baptiste Pesenti, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Florian Verhaegue, 3 Michaël Simutoga, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Clément Castets (captain)
Replacements : 16 Elyes El Ansari, 17 Pierre Bourgarit, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Théo Hannoyer, 20 Matthieu Voisin, 21, Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Damien Penaud, 23 Alexandre Pilati
Date: 27 February 2016
Kick-off: 19.45
Venue: Parc Eirias, Colwyn Bay
Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Italy vs Scotland
Scotland are a good side. They shocked England in the first round and lost to Wales to a late penalty in the second round.
Italy have four changes with Matteo Minozzi at fullback, Marco Zanon at centre, Leonardo Mantelli back at flyhalf and Leonard Krumov at lock.
Teams
Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Roberto Dal Zilio, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Leonardo Mantelli, 9 Vincenzo Charly Ernest Trussardi, 8 Gabriele Venditti, 7 Davide Ciotoli, 6 Davide Fragnito (captain), 5 Samuele Ortis, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Daniele Rimpelli
Replacements: 16 Nicolò Broglia, 17 Damiano Borean, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Giordano Baldino, 20 Michael De Marco, 21 Matteo Maria Panunzi, 22 Peter Boris Mokom/Mihai Ciju, 23 Antonio Rizzi
Scotland: 15 Ruairi Howarth, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 George Taylor, 12 Tom Galbraith, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), 9 Hugh Fraser, 8 Ally Miller, 7 Matt Smith, 6 Scott Burnside, 5 Scott Cummings (captain), 4 Andrew Davidson), 3 Callum Sheldon, 2 Lewis Anderson, 1 Murray McCallum
Replacements: 16 Renwick, 17 George Thornton, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 , 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Chris Lines, 23 Robbie Nairn
Date: Friday, 26 Fenbruary 2016
Kick-off: 19.10
Venue: Stadio Plebiscito, Padova
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referees: Stéphane Boyer (France), Laurent Breil (France)
Television match official: Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)
England vs Ireland
England are not out of the race but they will need some assistance from other sides to make up for their surprise defeat at the hands of the Scots.
The Ireland match is a crucial fixture where only victory will enable England to carry on hoping. And Ireland are in the same boat.
England have the advantage of playing at home – at Newcastle falcons, their captain's club.
England have made two changes, bringing in Archie White onto the flank while prop Jake Pope comes onto the bench to replace injured Ralph Adams-Hale.
After their heavy defeat by the powerful French, Ireland have made five changes. Jack Power returns from injury to play fullback, Stephen Kerins starts at scrumhalf for the first time, Hugo Keenan moves to the right wing and Matthew Byrne to the bench while in the pack prop Conan O'Donnell starts again in the place of injured Conor Kenny, Greg Jones is at No.8 in the place of injured Max Deegan and Will Connors is back from injury and onto the flank.
Teams
England: 15 Max Malins, 14 George Perkins, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Charlie Thacker, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Mathew Protheroe, 9 Max Green, 8 Callum Chick(captain), 7 Sam Smith, 6 Archie White, 5 George Nott, 4 Huw Taylor, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Jake Pope, 18 Billy Keast, 19 Stan South, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Jamie Shillcock, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Paolo Odogwu
Ireland: 15 Jack Power, 14 Hugo Keenan, 13 Shane Daly, 12 Jimmy O'Brien, 11 Conor O'Brien, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Stephen Kerins, 8 Greg Jones, *7 Will Connors, 6 Cillian Gallagher, 5 James Ryan (captain)4 Peter Claffey, 3 Conan O'Donnell, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Shane Fenton, 17 James Bollard, 18 Ben Betts, 19 Sean O'Connor, 20 Kelvin Brown, 21 John Poland, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Matthew Byrnece."
Date: Friday, 26 February 2016
Kick-off: 18.05
Venue: Kingston Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Referee: Tual Trainini (France)
Assistant Referees: Arnaud Blondel (France), Christophe Malterre (France)
Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Timekeeper: David Hudson (England)
Assessor: Jim Fleming (Scotland)
