Dan Jones admits winning Wales’ first Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam has yet to sink in but insists there is still more to come from the team.
Jason Strange’s men are the first Wales side to win all five of their games at junior level since 2005, when the tournament was for under-21s.
Jones more than played his part in the final victory on Friday as he kicked 15 points in the 35-6 win over Italy at Colwyn Bay’s Parc Eirias.
And the 20-year-old told Wales’ website: “We’ve shown huge character during this campaign – I think we shocked ourselves at times – but after what we’ve achieved I know there’s a lot more to come from this team.
“A lot of us have experience from last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship and we will certainly go into our first game against Ireland with confidence.
“The fact that it’s taking place in Manchester means there’s not too much travelling which should be to our advantage too and hopefully we can benefit from a lot of Welsh support.
“It’s difficult to put a finger on why exactly we’ve gelled so well but (performance psychologist) Rich Neil definitely helped massively and now we want to push on to the world cup.
“There’s a lot of competition for the outside half berth with Jarrod (Evans) and Billy (McBryde) too but that can only benefit the team.”
Italy Under-20s fly-half Matteo Minozzi threatened to spoil the party on Friday when he put the visitors 6-3 ahead.
But Jones levelled and in the end Wales’ win was a convincing one as Harrison Keddie crossed twice and there were scores for Joe Thomas and Shaun Evans.
Jones said: “I couldn’t feel any better; I still don’t think it’s quite sunk in. The boys played superbly after a ropey first half and to be a part of that and to win a first Under-20 Grand Slam for Wales is something special.
“There were a few nerves, but to be fair, all credit to Italy. The way they conducted themselves, they put us under pressure, they were there to spoil the party and they were a tough opponent to break down.
“However, we’ve shown during the tournament what we are made of and in the second half we came through, sorted a few things out and showed what we can do.”
You can view the Under-20s Six Nations table here.
