North and South to clash in Wales this weekend

Wales will have its own junior ‘Origin’ type clash this weekend, when the Under-16s of North Wales take on their South Wales counterparts.

The two regional academy sides are set to clash at Queensway in Wrexham, with kick-off at 11.30am.

North Wales are currently third in the North Wales Counties Division 2 and have recently reached the North West Counties Plate Final.

For South Wales, in contrast, this will be only their third game of the season, and they will be looking to build on their win over win against a Hemel and Milton Keynes Select last week.

After the game against the North, the South Wales lads will a guided tour at Widnes Vikings, before watching the game against Salford Red Devils.

South Wales Academy manager Peter Tiffin is pleased that his players will get the chance to see what life is like at a Super League club, as well as facing a real challenge on the pitch.

“After last Sunday’s game against Hemel and Milton Keynes select, we decided that we needed to take the boys away to see how other academies work and where they could end up if they keep working hard, as they will see at Widnes with ex South Wales academy players,” he said.

“It will be a long day as we won’t get back until about 9-10pm but it’ll be worth it. All 29 players in our training squad will be going whether playing in the match against North Wales or not so they can get the full experience we’d like to offer them.

“We are looking forward to playing against North Wales. We’ve heard a lot of positive comments regarding their squad and their progress this season.”

The game will be the first match between the academies at junior level for nine years. In 2006, the North were victorious at under-15 level at the Brewery Field in Bridgend.

North Wales Crusaders’ under 16 coach Allen Jones thinks that the game is ideal preparation for the bigger tests which lie ahead for the Welsh youngsters.

“It’s a free weekend for us so we’re honoured to be hosting the South Wales squad,” he said.

“It’ll be great preparation for when Wales take on England at under 16 level in August, and as we’ve a couple of big North West Counties fixtures coming up, it suits our purposes very well.

“I anticipate it to be a high intensity workout.”