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IN SQUAD: Jimmy Norris

WALES U-20s head coach Pat Horgan declared he has the players at his disposal to challenge the best sides on the globe after picking his squad for the Junior World Championship.

Yesterday Horgan whittled his charges down to 26 for June's tournament with Dragons Jason Tovey (full-back), Ashley Sweet (lock) and Jimmy Norris (wing) making the cut along with scrum-half Gareth Williams, who finished the season with Ebbw Vale.

Australia, who will play their games at Rodney Parade, named ten players who have Super 14 experience in their squad, Grand Slam-winning England bring a powerful side while the All Blacks will, as usual, field several stars of the future.

But Horgan believes there is a danger of under-playing the talent that is grown in Wales and that there is a real chance of the hosts, led by Blues flanker Sam Warburton, putting the other nations in the shade.

"We have eight guys who have experienced regional rugby," he said.

"We have got real talent in this squad - Gareth Owen has impressed with the Ospreys, Jon Davies plays for the Scarlets along with Daniel Evans, Leigh Halfpenny is turning out for the Blues this weekend and Tovey made his Dragons debut.

"That's just naming a few and if you go through it there are some top players there.

"We don't need to have any fear about other sides and whether they are selecting people who have played Super 14.

"We are fully aware of the talent that other sides in the tournament have in their squads, but we also know that we have plenty of special players of our own."

Horgan, who said it was the most difficult sporting decision he has had to make when leaving Dragons academy hooker Ben Roberts out of his squad along with Rory Pitman and Luke Evans, is setting his sights high for the tournament.

"It's going to be an intense few weeks but the boys are all looking forward to it," he said. "As a group we probably exceeded expectations in Belfast (for last season's under-19s championship) and that's what we intend to do again.

"We want to be hard to beat and we want to keep our unbeaten record at home. You need a bit of luck, but we have the talent to make a real impact."

12:31pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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