South Wales Scorpions’ new under 20s side held their first training session at Ystrad Mynach’s Centre for Sporting Excellence on November 1.
The Scorpions’ Academy head coach Paul Emanuelli was joined by senior players to put the 40 16 to 20-year-olds through their paces.
Emanuelli has highlighted the importance of development after Wales’ 14-6 win against France on Friday October 30.
The win takes Wales within a draw of winning the European Championships and 12 of the 17 players who featured in the match at Cardiff Arms Park came through junior and community development systems in South Wales.
Emanuelli said: “I was really pleased to see boys who have been lost from the system for a couple of years because of the temporary lack of pathway in some areas, coming back and looking as strong as ever.
“We’ve unearthed some amazing talent here and I think some will be good enough for a first team debut by the end of the 2016 should they show the potential we think they have in the under 20 matches that we’re organising.
“Sunday night was the first step to Scorpions’ long term future. We’re not producing players for other sides, these players are for our club.
“There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us but with the enthusiasm shown on Sunday night, the future for us and Wales is looking bright.”