Jared Rosser, 18, from Pontypool went to Abersychan School before joining the Rugby programme at Newport High School.
Rosser had been involved in an extended training group at the National Centre of Excellence and at the pre-tournament camp in Monmouth. He won his first cap in Wales U20’s win over Georgia U20’s at the Manchester City Academy Stadium.
Rosser said “It’s all been a massive surprise. I thought I’d just be training with the squad before the competition as a reserve but you can see how important that was because George (Gasson) got injured then Keelan (Giles) was called up to the seniors.
"I am really enjoying it and it was a pleasant surprise when I played against Georgia because I was supposed to be on the bench before Keelan was called up. It wasn’t the best of games but pulling on the jersey made it feel like some of my hard work is getting rewarded.”
Rosser won his second cap in the 18-17 defeat to New Zealand U20’s at the AJ Bell Stadium.
He continued “To lose so narrowly to New Zealand was disappointing but we can take a huge amount of positives from the game and if we build on them we can end the tournament on a good note.”
Rosser and his team mates have a chance for revenge today when they face New Zealand U20’s at the AJ Bell Stadium in the fifth place semi-final (KO 3:15pm). The winner will play either Australia or Scotland in the fifth place final while the losers will play for seventh place.
Wales U20’s to face New Zealand U20’s
Joe Gage (Ospreys); Tom Williams (Ospreys), Joe Thomas (Ospreys), Billy McBryde (Scarlets), Jared Rosser (Newport Gwent Dragons); Dan Jones (Scarlets), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys); Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Blues), Liam Belcher (Cardiff Blues), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues), Seb Davies (Cardiff Blues), Tom Phillips (captain, Scarlets), Josh Macleod (Scarlets) Harrison Keddie (Newport Gwent Dragons)
Replacements: Dafydd Hughes (Scarlets), Rhys Fawcett (Scarlets), Leon Brown (Newport Gwent Dragons), Morgan Sieniawski (Cardiff Blues), Shaun Evans (Scarlets), Declan Smith (Scarlets) Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues), Kieran Williams (Ospreys)
