Wales U20 change four for NZ
Jason Strange's young side fell 17-18 to New Zealand at AJ Bell Stadium on Wednesday and now face the same opposition at Manchester City Academy Stadium on Monday in the fifth place semifinal. The winner will play either Australia or Scotland in the fifth place final while the losers will play for seventh place.
Liam Belcher and Josh Macleod start at hooker and openside flank, while Joe Gage starts at fullback and Billy McBryde at inside centre after injuries to Rhun Williams and Harri Millard.
Strange said: "With the short turnaround between matches in this tournament, we felt Liam and Josh would freshen things up and give us some added energy up front. While it's always disappointing to lose players through injury, especially with a small squad, we're confident in the whole squad and I'm sure Joe and Billy will step up to the mark tomorrow as they have in training."
Strange believes playing New Zealand twice within a week is just the sort of challenge the players need.
"These are the high intensity matches the players require to accelerate their development and we're really pleased with their progress so far. The players were excellent on Wednesday. Despite the loss, you couldn't fault their collective effort and level of performance. The match was decided on a few critical decisions and hopefully we have learned from those high pressure situations.
"The players have had a lot of success this season, however it's also important to go through this process of losing and learning from your mistakes.
"It will be interesting to see how both teams approach the game tactically after last Wednesday's match, we will attempt to continue playing the game with skill and passion."
Wales U20: 15 Joe Gage, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Billy McBryde, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Corey Domachowski, 7 Liam Belcher, 6 Dillon Lewis, 5 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Tom Phillips, 2 Josh Macleod, 1 Harrison Keddie.
Replacements: 16 Dafydd Hughes, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Morgan Sieniawski, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Declan Smith, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Kieran Williams.
Date: Monday, June 20
Venue: Academy Stadium, Manchester
Kick-off: 15.15 (02.15 NZ Time, Monday June 21; 14.15 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Trevor Fisher (England)
