The U20 Six Nations starts this weekend, when Wales take on Italy at Cardiff Arms Park. On the same day, at the same venue, England face France, while Scotland kick things off against Ireland. Some well known fathers will be keeping close attention on the progress of their sons, as Wales’ Dan John tells Graham Thomas.
Dan John has his sights fixed on an impressive three generational hat-trick as he prepares to do battle for Wales in the U20 Six Nations Championship.
The Exeter Chiefs youngster will be aiming to prove he has the talent to match his pedigree and suggest full senior honours are not that far away.
If John does step up to make Wayne Pivac’s squad in the not too distant future then he will follow in the footsteps is his father Paul, who won 10 caps for Wales back in the 1990s, and also grandfather Dennis, who never pulled on a Welsh shirt but did do a stint as caretaker coach for the national side in 1998.
At 19, Dan has already broken into the Exeter first team and he will be one of a number of Wales youngsters worth keeping an eye on when the tournament – which is being televised live by S4C – kicks off this weekend.
“My dad is pretty proud,” says Dan of his old man Paul, who will be tuning in online from Hong Kong, where he is the national Sevens coach.
“He’s sent me some nice messages since the squad was announced.
Huge congratulations to first year Dan John, who is named as a replacement for Exeter Chiefs.
He’s joined on the bench by Richard Capstick. https://t.co/Uin8Fg8TJ6
— EURFC (@ExeterUniRFC) March 19, 2021
“I wouldn’t say he’s a competitive dad, but he doesn’t just let me get on with it. He likes to watch my training and games and then asks if I’d have done anything differently on Zoom calls because I haven’t seen him for a while.
“He wants to see me do my best and he’s a good person to take advice from.”
John owes as much to his mother for ending up at the Chiefs, the most dominant club force in British rugby at present.
It was mum who pointed him towards Exeter University and once he had plumped for Devon for higher education, the step towards Sandy Park soon followed.
“My mum put pressure on me to make sure I got my education first. Exeter’s sports science department is very good and it was my first choice for university. When Exeter Chiefs also came in with an offer it was a no brainer.”
John is far from the only famous son to look out for when the age group tournament – which was delayed by the pandemic – kicks off on Saturday.
Almost everywhere you glance, there are familiar names and echoes of heroic deeds and memorable moments from years gone by.
With all the matches being played at Cardiff Arms Park, there will be plenty of opportunity for Welsh supporters to judge all these young chips off the old blocks from yesteryear.
As well as John, Wales have included Cardiff Blues utility back Ben Burnell in their squad, the son of former Blues coach Justin Burnell who was a stalwart rugged back rower with Bridgend and Neath.
A far more recent familial connection is Carwyn Tuipulotu, the young Scarlets giant who is not only the son of former Tonga international Kati Tuipulotu – who played club rugby in Wales for Dunvant and Neath – but also cousin of Wales No.8 Taulupe Faletau.
England can probably trump Wales in the fame game, since included in their squad is Lucas Brooke, the son of former New Zealand legend Zinzan Brooke, the ex-All Blacks No.8 who these days lives just over the border.
The red rose also have a straight line national connection with Dan Lancaster, the back row forward who happens to be the son of former England coach Stuart Lancaster.
Zinzan Brooke’s legendary drop goal…
😳 From that distance
😱 In a RWC match against England
🤯 Wearing number 8 on his back pic.twitter.com/7pv2NNi6YQ— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) June 6, 2020
England will be favourites to claim the U20 title, along with U20 Junior World Cup winners France, and England head coach Alan Dickens says: “We’ve had a couple of camps in the last six weeks which helped bring the group together. The preparation has been good and the commitment from the players has been fantastic.”
The French include back rower Théo Ntamack, the younger brother of current France fly-half Romain, and son of Toulouse and France legend Emile.
They also have some Celtic-Gallic flavour in their mix with Joshua Brennan, the son of former Ireland and Leinster back row man Trevor Brennan who settled in France after the end of his playing career.
Scotland are not short of famous sons, either. Not only does their squad include Murray Redpath – younger brother of current Bath and Scotland centre Cameron Redpath and son of former Scotland skipper Bryan Redpath, but they can even manage a generational half-back pairing.
Their other hand-me-down is Christian Townsend – son of former Scotland and British & Irish Lions outside half Gregor Townsend, the current Scotland senior coach and Lions backs coach.
Not to be outdone, Ireland will feature Nathan Doak, the son of former Ulster scrum half and Ireland and Georgia backs coach, Neil Doak.
The Italians, too, will be keeping it in the family with Alessandro Garbisi – brother of Italy outside half Paolo Garbisi.
S4C will show live coverage of all matches from rounds two, three and four of the Under 20s Six Nations Championship, with English commentary also available. On matchday two, Friday 25 June, live coverage of England v Scotland (2.00pm) and Italy v France (5.00pm) will be shown online on S4C Clic, while the match between Wales and Ireland will be shown live on S4C and S4C from 7.50pm.