World Rugby U20 Championship: Jamie Roberts has inspired Wales' young stars
- Published
Wales centre Bryn Bradley has already been compared with Jamie Roberts for his size
Jamie Roberts has helped inspire Wales Under-20s to within a game of reaching the World Championship semi-finals.
Wales centre Bryn Bradley has described how the ex-British & Irish Lion joined the squad for a specialist session before they departed for South Africa.
Wales face France in Cape Town on Tuesday - the top two sides in Pool A - for a place in the last four.
"It was a real eye-opener for a lot of the boys but we've really taken it on board into our games," said Bradley.
Bringing in 97-cap Roberts was the idea of his former Wales team-mate Mark Jones, now interim head coach of the Wales junior side.
It has brought immediate rewards with Wales rattling New Zealand in their agonising 27-26 defeat in the opening game before beating Japan.
Centre pair Louis Hennessey and Roberts have been two of the stand-out performers.
"He showed the boys a lot more detail about specific stuff for the backs than we had thought of," said 20-year-old Bradley.
"We worked hard on a few things, particularly our defence. He gave us an insight into his mindset when he was playing, how aggressive he was in defence. It was great."
Bradley was born in south London and went to school in Epsom but qualifies for Wales through his Newport-born mother, while brother Gwilym plays for Cardiff.
At 6ft 3ins and 16st, Bradley has already been compared with Roberts - who also wore the number 12 jersey - and plays at one of the ex-Wales star's former clubs.
"I started at Harlequins just after Jamie had left, which was a shame, so I was really keen to pick his brains when he came into [the Wales] camp," said Bradley.
"I wanted to learn as much as I could from such an experienced player and he gave me - and the other lads - a lot of confidence.
"We've brought that feeling into our games so far and the performances have been pretty close to what we wanted."
Wales U20s assistant coach Richie Pugh hails 'exciting' teenager Morgan Morse
Wales are second in their pool having taken six points from their first two games but will need that confidence against France, the winners of the last two U20 World Championships.
Eleven of Wales' match-day squad were humbled 67-17 by this French side when they last met in the Six Nations in March.
'Embarrassment'
That defeat, Wales' biggest in the Under-20 Six Nations for nine years, saw Byron Hayward quit as head coach, but wing Tom Florence believes Jones' side are a different prospect.
"That game was an embarrassment, it just wasn't good enough from us," said the Ospreys wing.
"Perhaps we were a little under-prepared, there was a bit of doubt after so many defeats and we had nothing to play for while they (France) were on fire.
"But we are definitely a different team now. We've prepared a lot better, we have confidence and have a semi-final to play for, so we're in a totally different place."