Lack of composure, but no lack of bottle

WALES Under-18s coach Chris Horsman is upbeat for the remainder of the International Series this week after kicking off the tournament with a 22-6 defeat of Scotland at the Arms Park on Saturday night.

Tom Hoppe and Ioan Davies were among the Welsh try-scorers while Cai Evans landed two tricky conversions and a penalty to set Wales up for the second of their International Series games with Canada at Parc y Scarlets on Wednesday night (7.35pm).

“We’ve got a new group, having lost a lot of players because of a January 1 birthday cut-off,” said former Wales prop Horsman.

“But it’s great to see a lot more boys exposed to international competition. I was pleased with how it panned out, with the group performing better in the second half.

“They took on our messages and produced a reasonable performance.”

The former Bath, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors and Worcester front-rower admitted there’s still plenty to work on after the Scotland win, but a further boost for Wales will be the way the Canadians were despatched 55-11 by England at Taffs Well on Saturday, while the Arms Park also hosted Ireland’s 39-23 victory over Italy.

“In terms of build-up, preparation in camp during the week, I think we got a lot out of it and we’ll benefit from Saturday night.”

The physical Scots were far from walk-overs, and Horsman says he was fully aware of the threats they would pose.

“They lost to England but it was quite a close game, and we know how good England can be,” he added.

“They played some good stuff, challenging us early on, particularly in the first 15, 20 minutes. But we regathered our composure and were able to implement our game plan and attacking strategy.”

The Welsh coaching set-up will rotate roles during the competition, and Horsman praised coach Danny Milton’s contribution to Wales’ defensive output as they kept the visitors scoreless in the second half.

“The defence was excellent, and I think Danny has done a sterling job. With the role changes during the series, we’re challenging ourselves as much as the players,” he added.

“There will be a bit of focus on improving some of the things we did against Scotland, but it’s important that we not get fixated on things that didn’t go too well against Scotland or what the threats are of Canada.”

Scotland and Italy get things under way in Llanelli on Wednesday (1530), while England play Ireland in the other game (1715). THE Ospreys’ difficult run continued on Saturday as they lost out to Leinster in agonising fashion at the Liberty Stadium.

They were ahead 18-17 in the 79thminute, only to see Ross Byrne put the visitors back in front with a calmly taken drop goal.

There was still more drama to come as Dan Biggar attempted a 40-metre penalty in injury time. But he missed and the Ospreys lost 20-18, damaging their Guinness Pro12 play-off hopes.

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