What became of the Wales rugby team that disappeared exactly 20 years ago

There are probably bigger priorities for Welsh rugby right now — what with the regions lamentably under-funded, the national team having just lost to Italy, Wales U20s having suffered the same fate and an average-sized family car probably able to accommodate all those who are pleased with the way the game is governed this side of the River Severn right now — but, still, what did happen to the Wales A team?

Resurrected in 2016, it was supposed to be what Welsh rugby had been looking for, a stepping stone between regional rugby and the under-20s game for potential international players. The hope was that it would prove an important link in the development chain, with the side playing a couple of matches a season.

Six years on, it has become Welsh rugby’s ghost team, a side that hasn’t played since it was brought back because of lack of opposition, lack of space in a congested calendar and existing demands on players and regions. “We just need 60 weeks in a year, really,” said former Welsh Rugby Union chairman Gareth Davies when speaking of how to accommodate an A-team programme of matches.

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Many still remember the side fondly, though.

The team last played on April 5, 2002, coached by Mike Ruddock, before being scrapped on grounds of cost.

Welsh rugby was in another of its deep lows amid problems all around.

But out of the Wales A XV which beat Scotland 30-23 at Wrexham two decades ago, six players would go on to feature in the Six Nations Grand Slam campaign of 2005.

MARK ORDERS takes a look at the team that ran out at the Racecourse that night.

Lyn Jones described Durston as “one of Welsh rugby’s enigmas” after signing him for Neath in 2002. But