"I’ve been to many of the IRB age grade tournaments and what is so exciting is that every one of them unearths some real stars of the future," said Redman, who won 20 caps for England, toured with the 1997 British & Irish Lions in South Africa and won 17 major trophies in 350 games with Bath.

"You only have to look at recent tournaments to see the likes of Gavin Henson, Luke McAlister and Danny Cipriani coming through and there will be more great names unearthed in Wales this year who will grace the senior international stage in the not too distant future.

""It’s fantastic this inaugural Under 20 competition is taking place in the UK. Fans in Wales this summer can literally spend an afternoon or evening watching rugby and whatever game they choose to watch will throw up some future stars of the world game.

"In my opinion, it is a real privilege to see some of those stars in action aged 18 and 19 before they step onto the big stage."

Redman has been close to the IRB Junior World Cups since the end of his playing career. He took England Under 19 to two FIRA World Cups in 2000 and 2001 and was with the England Under 21 squad at the their equivalent in 2002 and 2003.

He returned to duty with England Under 19 in Dubai in 2006 and Belfast in 2007. Now he hopes to take the currently unbeaten England Under 20 Six Nations squad all the way to the first IRB Under 20 final at the Liberty Stadium.

England are seeded sixth in this competition and although England are flying high at the top of the Under 20 Six Nations table at the moment, Redman believes that is the correct position for his side going into the tournament.

"New Zealand, South Africa and Australia should all be strong sides as you’d expect, but France have a good team and so have Wales so the teams above us all deserve their positions, we just have to ensure we are ready for the challenge.

"We have a very physical pool with Australia, Fiji and Canada. Fiji are first up having stepped up into this tournament and it is vital we prepare well and put in a good performance against them on Day One in order to be ready for the top seeds in the Pool, Australia on Match Day two.

"It is a very clear-cut tournament format but it is brutal in that only one team from each Pool goes to the semis so any slip-up will count dearly."

England’s 100% record so far in the Six Nations Championship has come from wins over Wales, Italy and France, but Redman says this run of form will have no bearing on the Junior World Championship.

"We are playing some good rugby at the moment but there is a two and a half month break between competitions, so it will be difficult to keep that momentum going. The players go back to their clubs in March so it will be key for us to meet up in May and work hard to be ready for Fiji on June 6."

One thing Redman can count on is some moral support from two sisters and extended family living close by.

"I grew up less than 10 miles from Newport in Rumney, Cardiff and my sisters live down the road in St Mellons and Marshfield so I certainly won’t be in unfamiliar surroundings.

"From a team perspective, being based in Newport makes it easy for fans in England to provide some much valued vocal support. For supporters in the Bristol, Bath and Gloucester areas in particular, it’s only a short drive to Rodney Parade so I’m hoping that our ‘local’ support will spur us on and help us reach the semis.

"I think that’s probably the objective for all the teams involved but it would certainly be great to break the southern hemisphere’s monopoly of international age grade rugby and get at least two northern hemisphere sides into the top four."

• Tickets go on sale at the match venues and via Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.co.uk and 08705 582582 at 12 noon on Friday, March 14.