AFTER making some tough calls when trimming his Wales Under-20s squad, head coach Pat Horgan is looking for his young charges to silence the Shed when they start their Six Nations campaign.

They take on their English counterparts on Friday, February 1 at Gloucester's Kingsholm.

The training squad was cut to 30 players this week with Newport Gwent Dragons Jimmy Norris (wing), Jason Tovey (outside half/full back), Ben Roberts (hooker) and Ashley Sweet (lock) making the cut.

There is plenty of competition for places with the likes of Jonathan Davies, Gareth Owen, Sam Warburton and Leigh Halfpenny looking to show why they are so highly-rated.

Horgan hopes that the battle for starting shirts will increase the intensity so that his side can getting off to a winning start.

"It's a very competitive squad and I'm sure the boys who just missed out will come back into contention in the future," he said. "The squad does excite us as a coaching team - there's a lot of talent there and now we will be looking to get off to a winning start in the Six Nations.

"Going to play in front of a packed house in Gloucester is a massive opportunity for the boys and coming away with a win would really build up the momentum. You only have to look at previous Six Nations to see how important it is to get off to a good start.

"And we obviously want to win our home games and hopefully we will get some big crowds at Rodney Parade, as have turned out in past years, and a great atmosphere as well."

The preparations go up a notch on Monday - the squad take on an Ospreys XV at Aberavon (kick-off 7.15pm) with everyone set to get a run out.

Looking to make an impact will be versatile back Jason Tovey, who has impressed at Premiership level with Cross Keys, Newport and Bedwas, and will compete primarily for the outside half spot.

"The beauty of players like (Gareth) Owen and Tovey is that they can play pretty much anywhere in the three-quarters," said Horgan. "The competition is pretty fierce for the 10 shirt with Dan Biggar in the mix so it's a real bonus to have people who are comfortable in other positions and they are serious options at 13 or 15.

"There are hard decisions to be made throughout the squad - there are four very good props and Aaron Coundley (who has played for both Cross Keys and Blackwood this season) was unfortunate to miss out after missing some training sessions with illness.

"The whole squad will get a run-out against the Ospreys and it will be a good test because they are a very strong outfit themselves."

Fixtures: Wales v Ospreys -Monday, January 14 (7.15pm); England v Wales - Friday, February 1; Wales v Scotland -Friday, February 8, Rodney Parade; Wales v Italy -Friday, February 22, Rodney Parade; Ireland v Wales -Friday, March 7; Wales v France, Friday, Rodney Parade.

Squad: Daniel Evans (Scarlets), Jimmy Norris (Dragons), Leigh Halfpenny, Nathan Rees (both Blues), Jonathan Davies, Rhys Williams (both Scarlets), Luke Ford (Blues), Gareth Owen, Dan Biggar (both Ospreys), Jason Tovey (Dragons), Luke Evans (Blues), Gareth Williams, Rhys Webb (both Ospreys), Scott Andrews, Patrick Palmer, Sam Hobbs (all Blues), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Ben Roberts (Dragons), Rhys Lawrence (Ospreys), Ryan Prosser (Bristol Academy), Haydn Pugh (Scarlets), Jevon Groves (Blues), Ashley Sweet (Dragons), Josh Turnbull, Nicholas Cudd (both Scarlets), Justin Tipurick (Ospreys), Dan Franks (Blues), Sam Warburton (Blues), Rory Pitman (Ospreys), Lloyd Phillips (Scarlets).