The 'special' Wales U20s captain leading from front

It came as no surprise that Deian Gwynne was in the thick of it when Wales finally broke their Under-20s Six Nations duck against Scotland last weekend.

The Gloucester back-row forward was named as man of the match as the Welsh youngsters beat the Scots 31-21 at Cardiff Arms Park, recording a first victory after agonising late losses to both England and France.

In a tournament featuring Europe's most promising prospects, Gwynne has stood tall.

The 20-year-old from Aberystwyth currently leads the official stats for carries (44) and post-contact metres (43), he is joint top for dominant contacts (eight) and is fourth for successful tackles (46).

Gwynne is also Wales' leader for metres made with ball in hand (143), and is the only forward in the top 10.

"He is a special player. His carry metres are through the roof and he epitomises what we want from our leaders," said Wales head coach Richard Whiffin.

"He is a 'follow me' leader and the boys want to get behind him because of the performances that he continues to put out there."

Gwynne went into his second year of the Six Nations fresh from a breakthrough season with Gloucester.

After featuring in the Challenge Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup in 2024-25, the promising forward has appeared in the Prem and Champions Cup in the current campaign.

Whiffin is pleased that the west Walian has grasped a chance that came sooner than expected at Kingsholm.

"I'm not surprised because I know how good he is," said the Wales boss. "With that, you need to have opportunity and Gloucester have had a huge injury rate in the back row and second row.

"That has given Deian an opportunity and he has taken it - [head coach] George Skivington raves about him.

"We communicate with Gloucester about all our boys, and Deian is someone that they have high hopes for. He will be a key member of that squad going forward."

Gwynne has returned to Kingsholm in Six Nations fallow week with the Cherry and Whites at Bath in the Prem Rugby Cup on Saturday (15:05 GMT).

A smattering of Wales players will feature in club rugby this weekend before the squad prepare for a testing trip to Ireland on Saturday, 7 March (19:45 GMT).

The Irish ended England's Grand Slam hopes with an impressive 31-21 win in Bath last weekend and have comfortably won the last three meetings between the sides on home soil.

Whiffin is hoping that the fallow week will help his side hit the heights of the performances against England and France.

"We asked the boys to go to the well in the first two weeks and it was always going to be challenging to back up those performances," said Whiffin, whose side finish against Italy in Newport.

"We were good in parts and fortunately were good enough for long enough to get the result.

"Energy levels were flagging, but we can regenerate for a tough task in Cork, and we go there knowing that we have really good performances under our belts, and now a result.

"We spoke as a group after France and didn't shy away from wanting three wins in the competition.

"We have got one on the board and haven't won in Ireland for a long time, so we'd love to tick that one off."