HEAD coach Pat Horgan is confident that his Wales Under-20s side can get the weekend off to a flier when they head to Kingsholm to face their English counterparts this evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

His group of hot prospects head over the border with the aim of silencing the Shed and getting their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start.

Horgan has picked an exciting young back line to try and achieve that goal with Ospreys star Gareth Owen and Scarlets pair Dan Evans and Jonathan Davies all having represented their regions at senior level with distinction so far this season.

When the two teams met at Rodney Parade last season it took a try by Leicester centre Tom Youngs in the ninth minute of injury time to rescue a draw for the English, and Horgan hopes that the flair in his side will ensure they can hold out this time.

"It's all very exciting and the boys are looking forward to finally getting on the pitch after weeks of preparation," he said. "We have looked sharp in training and now it's all about taking that out onto the pitch.

"There's a really nice balance to our side and I hope we take the chance to show it. I suppose in some ways we won't know what we'll get until it comes to the game but there is some real potential there.

"We have three players who can play outside half on the pitch in Dan Biggar, Gareth Owen and Dan Evans so that will give us a great kicking game, then Jonathan Davies gives us the power in midfield and there is great finishing ability on the wings.

"Getting off to a winning start would be superb and would really set us up for our home games and we are quietly confident of doing just that."

Wales expect a typically forthright approach from their hosts so have gone with five forwards on the bench and expects them to make an impact in the late stages.

Meanwhile skipper Sam Warburton, who misses out tonight, is making good progress as he recovers from a hamstring injury and hopes are high that he will lead out the side when Scotland visit Rodney Parade next Friday.

The aim is always to bring a steady stream of players through to the senior side and they will be getting a taste of life at the top over coming weeks.

With Warren Gatland only just getting settled in the Wales hotseat, it will be very much as you were for the Under-20s in terms of style but Horgan expects that to change given time.

He said: "We've only had brief discussions with (the senior) coaching staff and the squads will be doing a session a week together during the tournaments.

"It's in the pipeline that they will look for us to do certain things in the future but for now I think they have been more concerned with other matters since they have only had a short preparation time for next few weeks. I'm confident that a fair few of these boys will be knocking on the door of the senior squad before too long."

Wales U20: D Evans (Scarlets); L Halfpenny (Blues), G Owen (Ospreys), J Davies (Scarlets), J Norris (Dragons); D Biggar, G Williams (Ospreys); R Bevington (Ospreys), B Roberts (Dragons), P Palmer (Blues), J Turnbull (Scarlets), J Groves (Blues, captain), J Tipuric (Ospreys), N Cudd (Scarlets), L Phillips (Scarlets).

Replacements: S Hobbs (Blues), S Andrews (Blues), R Prosser (Bristol), H Pugh (Scarlets), R Pitman (Ospreys), L Evans (Blues), R Williams (Scarlets).