Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Getting to know: Wales U20s full-back Cameron Winnett

(Photo by Liam Heagney)

Good news in Welsh rugby is hard to come by in 2023. Even their U20s were mired by negativity, finishing with the wooden spoon in this year’s age-grade Six Nations. However, their appointment of Mark Jones as interim head coach has had a galvanising effect and there have been some green shoots at the ongoing Junior World Championship.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cameron Winnett is one the improving Wales youngster, playing his part in the agonising one-point near-miss versus New Zealand at Paarl and then finishing strongly at Stellenbosch to secure a win over Japan ahead of next Tuesday’s pool-closing clash with France in Athlone.

If the Winnett name sounds vaguely familiar from the past to rugby fans, it is because he made his Heineken Champions Cup debut for Cardiff in December 2021, scoring after just four minutes in a tie at Harlequins that was played despite Dai Young and his front-line squad all being unavailable after getting caught up in South Africa in yet another lockdown.

Video Spacer

We gave U20 New Zealand rugby players cameras and let them do whatever they want | Fuel Me

Video Spacer

We gave U20 New Zealand rugby players cameras and let them do whatever they want | Fuel Me

RugbyPass caught up with Winnett at the Wales team hotel in Cape Town and in a quickfire round of questions he revealed he loved watching Israel Folau when he was growing up, that he wants to sometime play with Cheslin Kolbe, and that he harbours the ambition of adding goalkicking to his repertoire:

THE BASICS
Born: January 7, 2003;
Joined Wales age-grade: Last year at 20s;
Club: Cardiff;
Position: Full-back;
Boots: Nike Tiempo;
Gumshield: I don’t wear one. I just never have really;
Headgear: No;
School: Coleg y Cymoedd.

RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: 70;
Passing: 80, 85 maybe;
Tackling: 75.

THE PAST
My favourite Wales player of all time is… Leigh Halfpenny.

ADVERTISEMENT

Favourite try I have ever scored is… Against Harlequins.

A rugby memory that makes me smile is…  Making my first appearance in URC for Cardiff.

The moment I realised I could make it is… The Harlequins game, my first senior game.

One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… Cherish every moment.

My best subject in school was… PE.

The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… I loved Israel Folau growing up and Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams.

ADVERTISEMENT

Growing up, my position was… Centre and then full-back.

The coach who has most impacted my game is… Dan Fish.

THE PRESENT
My best attributes on the field are… My stepping.

One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… Not at the minute. Sorry.

My favourite current Wales player is… Mason Grady.

My favourite YouTuber is… KSI.

My hardest working teammate is… Morgan Morse.

My most skilful teammate is… Louie Hennessey.

My favourite training drill is… One v ones.

My favourite music artist is… Probably Drake.

THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Morgan Morse.

If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Cheslin Kolbe.

I will be happy with my career if I… Play international seniors.

I want to make a difference by… Helping my team win.

One thing I want to add to my game is… Goalkicking.

If I could get a degree in anything I would choose… Not sure, sorry.

I would be a better player if I… Got bigger.

If I could play in any other country, I would play in… France.

One person I want to meet is… Cheslin Kolbe.

One trophy I would love to win is… Heineken Champions Cup.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

H
Hellhound 15 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

1 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING The Wallabies have a serious problem The Wallabies have a serious problem
Search