'Really good' Wigan Warriors youngster earns praise from Wales boss in Ireland defeat
Wigan Warriors youngster Sam Dickenson won his second senior cap for Wales on Saturday as they went down to a 36-12 defeat to Ireland at The Millennium Stadium in Featherstone.
Dickenson started at fullback for the Welsh as they fell short against an experienced Ireland side, who scored nine tries to level the two-Test series with Wales, who won the first Test 24-0 in Neath last month. Former Wigan academy products Harry Rushton and Dec O’Donnell again represented the Irish in the second Test.
Speaking after the game, Wales coach Paul Berry paid tribute to the younger members of his side, including Warriors starlet Dickenson.
"You go back two or three months when we were selecting a squad, when we knew we had these fixtures, we knew we were going to find it hard anyway, just with the personnel we selected, purposely (picking) a youthful squad to get us through the next few years together,” said Berry.
"This is the long-term plan for us, which we’ve said a few times. A lot of the youngsters on the field today didn’t look out of place against senior pros – Joe Philbin and Pat Moran – I’ve coached of them in the past, two good blokes with loads of experience at a good level.
"The likes of Sam Grice and Sam Dickenson were really good, Lloyd McEwan-Peters really contributed, Billy Walkley on the wing was really safe with his backfield kick retrievals and carries, Charlie Newton – a 17-year-old who came off the bench – played 15 or 20 minutes and added a lot around the ruck and had a kicking game from nine.
"Did we find it hard? Yeah, but that’s a positive when you are thinking long-term. We’re disappointed with the scoreline because you play games to win, but we’re playing the long game as well in this, so there are loads of positives to take out of it.
"Denive Balmforth, Matty Fozard, Bowzer (Sam Bowring), Huw (Worthington), Matty Ross and Connor Davies really led from the front and looked after the youngsters on the field when they were getting a little bit of treatment at times, so we’ve got a group who are committed to the cause and didn’t give in, so it was pleasing to serve up a better performance in the second half.”
Ireland: Aidan McGowan; Lewis Wing, Daniel Corcoran, Aaron Lynch, Connor Carr; Harry Rushton, Brendan O’Hagan; George King, Dec O’Donnell, Ronan Michael, Zack McComb, Lachlan Lanskey, Pat Moran. Subs: Oliver Whitford, Joe Philbin, Lucas Castle, Ryan Hogg. 18th man: Will Walker.
Wales: Sam Dickenson; Owen Restall, Max Clarke, Lloyd McEwan-Peters, Billy Walkley; Denive Balmforth, Matty Fozard; Sam Bowring, Finlay Yates, Huw Worthington, Matt Ross, Sam Grice, Connor Davies. Subs: Charlie Newton, Charlie Glover, Ashton Robinson, George Birch. 18th man: Charlie Thomas.