Dragons lock Ben Carter insists Wales Under-20s have ‘a point to prove’ when they tackle France Under-20s on Friday evening at Stadiwm Zip World (kick-off 7.35pm).
Wales are still searching for a first win in the Under-20s Six Nations after defeats to Italy and Ireland.
However, Carter – who has started both games to date – believes Wales have learnt the lessons of the opening rounds as they bid to stun the current Junior World Champions.
“It’s a massive challenge this week, but we have a point to prove with the last two games being losses,” said Carter, who has captained Wales at Under-18 and Under-19 level.
“We’ve had two tough games against quality outfits. It’s given us a lot of learnings to take into the France game.
“The week without a game has come at the right time. We have identified what we are doing well and what we needed to sort out.
“This extra week of preparation has been great in putting that all into place and hopefully we can now produce on Friday.
“It’s not going to be great weather so we’ve been outside training rather than in the barn this last couple of weeks to try and get used to it. We’ve got to be prepared for the worst,” he added.
“We have looked at France and the threats they bring. It’s going to take a huge performance from us as they are a strong side.
“But it is something we believe we can do, we think we have been improving, so hopefully on Friday we turn up.”
Carter insists he has enjoyed the step up from Wales Under-18s and has already turned heads with a record-breaking show against Italy.
Alongside fellow debutant Morgan Strong, he made 29 tackles in his first game for Wales U20s, to sit alongside Ireland’s James Ryan who achieved the same number against Scotland in 2016, as the leading tackler from any game in the championship.
“I didn’t realise at the time that there were so many tackles – it was just the way that Italy were playing,” he smiled.
“It meant five of us had 25 plus tackles in the game. But if they are going to run it at you are going to tackle them!”
Reflecting on his season to date, Carter revealed he has enjoyed first team exposure back at Dragons too as he bids to progress from the region’s Academy.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Dragons this season,” he said.
“I’ve been involved in some of the unit sessions with the senior squad and the players there are great and really help me out.
“They are very invested in the Academy at Dragons and it is a great place for us young people to be. It’s great for our development and I’m looking forward to the future.”
We have looked at France and the threats they bring... It’s going to take a huge performance from us as they are a strong side...
