Young Gun: Harrison Keddie – Wales U20s and Dragons No.8

Harrison Keddie is not the kind of player to boast about his performances, but he was the standout player of the U20s Six Nations and he played a crucial role in Wales winning the Grand Slam.
Very much like fellow Dragon Taulupe Faletau who doesn’t like to hear praise about himself, Keddie is quick to deflect the attention he gets to his teammates who he says make his job a lot “easier”.
But with five starts and three tries in the No.8 shirt, Keddie, who is tipped to make the step up to the senior team sooner rather than later, stood above the rest with his lethal mix of power and pace as well as handling skills many backs would be proud of.
“The team comes first and that’s the only thing I’m worried about when I’m on the field,” he told The Rugby Paper.
“It might look like I’m standing out but it’s because five or ten of my teammates did all the hard graft beforehand to put me in a position to score.
The tight five did an amazing job up front during the Six Nations and it made my job and the backs’ a lot easier.
“I got all my game time with Ebbw Vale up until Christmas before turning my attention to the U20s. Playing in the Welsh Premiership has been great for me and it’s helped me gain more experience week after week. It’s a good stepping stone to toughen me up as a young forward.
“I also played in the B&I Cup. Playing against English clubs from the Championship was definitely another step up in terms of physicality.”
That Grand Slam was Wales’ first at age-group level since 2005 and they will now go into the Junior World Cup in Manchester looking to recreate their exploits of 2013 when they reached the final against England in France.
But while the expectations have grown on them, Keddie is adamant nothing will change in camp.
He added: “We showed a lot of grit during the Six Nations and the boys never gave up throughout the Championship
“I don’t think winning the Grand Slam puts more pressure on us from an internal point of view because we’ll still expect the high level of performance from each other.
“But from the outside, people might expect us to do well at the JWC because of what we did during the Six Nations.
“We’ll have to play New Zealand in our last pool game and it promises to be a great experience.
“To be playing the best team in the world in your age group is a great challenge and there’s no better way to test yourself.”