Smith captain as super seven named by Wales

27/03/2026

Dragons RFC back row Cerrig Smith has been named captain as Wales Under-19s take on Ireland Under-19 at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday (kick-off 1pm) - one of seven Dragons named in the match day squad!

Head coach Richard Whiffin names a squad with six players who featured in the U20 Six Nations campaign and offers players a chance to stake a claim for Whiffin’s world cup squad in the summer.

“Cerrig led the 19s really well pre-Christmas and led the 18s last year at the Six Nations festival so he is someone who we know has some very good leadership qualities,” said Whiffin.

“In the 20s camp it was obviously a very strong back row, probably one of strongest areas on the field so it was tough for him to get selected but he worked hard and prepped the team and to be fair it was always a two year campaign for him and he has learned a lot in the 20s camp and hopefully he takes that learning into this 19s week.”

Another player who was involved in the U20s squad but didn’t get any game was Scarlets hooker Keanu Evans. He has been named on the bench.

“It's brilliant for him,” said Whiffin, “he is a recent convert from back row to hooker and so for us to be able to firstly have him in the 20s environment training-wise for a number of weeks to get some live throws etc has been great and we now think he is at a level to push his claims for the world cup at end of the season.”

There are some fresh faces in the squad named and Whiffin is keen to see how they cope with the demands of international rugby.

“I’m excited as we have a couple of guys in camp that we haven’t seen before – Cai Gealy and Nick Jones are two young half backs that get their chance to push their claims for world cup selection and then it’s good to see someone like Noah Willaims who had such a good Under-18s last year and he’s back from injury to push his claims for world cup selection too.”

Wales U19 v Ireland U19, Cardiff Arms Park, Sun 29 March, 1pm

15 Harry Turner (Cardiff Rugby)

14 Noah Morgan (Dragons RFC)

13 Bailey Cutts (Cardiff Rugby)

12 Jack Hoskins (Ospreys)

11 Rhys Cole (Dragons RFC)

10 Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff Rugby)

9 Cai Gealy (Bristol Bears)

1 George Leyland (Bristol Bears)

2 James Talamai (Dragons RFC)

3 Nathan Davies (Dragons RFC)

4 Sonny McCabe (Cardiff Rugby)