Wales opt for Junior World Championship co-captains

Deian Gwynne and Steffan Emanuel have been named as Wales Under-20s' co-captains for the Junior World Championship in Georgia.

Head coach Richard Whiffin has named a 30-strong squad for the expanded tournament, which gets under way on Saturday, 27 June.

Wales start against the hosts in Tbilisi before going up against Uruguay and champions South Africa in Pool A.

Whiffin has opted for a split of 17 forwards and 13 backs, with Gloucester flanker Gwynne and Cardiff centre Emmanuel continuing in the leadership roles they held for the Six Nations.

"It is certainly a 30 that we will back," said Whiffin, who led Wales to an eighth-placed finish last year.

"We intend to give everyone game time through the first couple of games so the boys are all able to put their hand up for the back end of the tournament."

Emanuel features in the championship for the third time and 10 of his team-mates, including Gwynne, played in Italy last year.

There are four uncapped players - Bristol scrum-half Cai Gealy, Scarlets lock Will Evans, Dragons wing Brogan Leary and Ospreys flanker Sam Morgan.

The squad features nine players from Cardiff and four each from Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets, while eight are on the books of English clubs and wing Dylan Scott represents Cardiff Met.

Wales finished fourth in the Six Nations after winning just once, against Scotland, despite encouraging performances against England and France.

The format for the under-20s competition has changed because of the expansion to 16 teams, with the winners from the four pools going through to the semi-finals.

The other countries will play for placings with all teams playing five fixtures in the tournament.

Backs: Lewis Edwards (Ospreys), Rhys Cummings (Cardiff), Tom Bowen (Cardiff), Dylan Scott (Cardiff Met), Brogan Leary (Dragons), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff, co-capt), Bailey Cutts (Cardiff), Osian Darwin-Lewis (Cardiff), Jack Hoskins (Ospreys), Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (Scarlets), Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff), Cai Gealy (Bristol), Sion Davies (Cardiff)

Forwards: George Tuckley (Dragons), Dylan James (Ospreys), Oscar Thomas (Bath), James Talamai (Dragons), Tom Howe (Cardiff), Jac Pritchard (Scarlets), Yestyn Cook (Scarlets), Isaac Godfrey (Exeter), Will Evans (Scarlets), Tom Cottle (Cardiff), Luke Evans (Exeter), Osian Williams (Bristol), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester Rugby, co-capt), Sam Morgan (Ospreys), Evan Minto (Dragons), Caio James (Gloucester), Alex Ridgway (Bath)

Saturday, 27 June: Georgia (15:00 BST)

Thursday, 2 July: Uruguay (10:00 BST)

Tuesday, 7 July: South Africa (15:00 BST)

Knockout stages

Sunday, 12 July and Monday, 13 July: Semi-finals and play-offs

Friday, 17 July and Saturday, 18 July: Final and play-offs