Wales will step up their preparations for the 2013 World Cup when they take on France in Wrexham on Saturday.
The Welsh will be without a number of key players for the clash - which will be their first mid-season international in 11 years.
Long-serving veterans Lee Briers and Ian Watson have both retired while Wales will also be without Australia-based internationals but that suits coach Iestyn Harris' long-term plans.
"This French game is really going to test our youngsters," Harris said.
"It's exciting for me as it will be for the Welsh public to see the next crop of Welsh youngsters coming through and see who will be good to enough to play in the big tournament at the end of the year and then the World Cup.
"This game is big for our development. We've not had a mid-season Test for 11 years and it allows us to bed some players in.
"We're a very young group which is exactly what we want. We've got a World Cup in just under 500 days and we've got to make sure that we have a group of players that we can trust.
"These youngsters need to put their hands up and say I'm ready to go in 18 months and ready to be part of the World Cup squad. You don't get a chance to answer those kind of questions very often.
"So it's been good to spend three days with them and I look forward to seeing them in action."
Wrexham-born brothers Owain and Iwan Brown, former Welsh student internationals who play for North Wales Crusaders, are among those hoping to make their Test debuts on their home ground at the Racecourse.
With five members of his 2011 Four Nations squad - Gil Dudson, Ben Flower, Lloyd White, Craig Kopczak and Elliott Kear - all sidelined through injury, Harris will be leaning on the experienced Jordan James, who will win his 25th cap.
The Salford prop forward is third in the all-time appearance chart and has scored nine tries for his country, two behind winger Rhys Williams, who needs just two more to equal Harris' record.
James and Williams are among only six survivors from the Wales team that gained a 12-11 win in their last meeting with the French in Albi in 2010 to lift the European Cup and qualify for last year's Four Nations Series.
France, too, are much changed, with caretaker coach Aurelien Cologni also relying on a mixture of youth and the experience of Catalan Dragons regulars Thomas Bosc, Gregory Mounis, Mickael Simon and Cyril Stacul as well as captain Olivier Elima, the seasoned Bradford forward.
