Dalziel keen to rewrite history

SCOTLAND U20

V N ZEALAND U20

Scotland under-20s will look to take inspiration from the national sevens side’s recent win over New Zealand when they face the “Baby Blacks” today in the opening round of the 2017 World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Kutaisi, Georgia.

John Dalziel, the Scotland U20 head coach, is looking to pull off a first ever Scots win over New Zealand at this level. He said: “History is there to be rewritten. We beat Australia for the first time last year and the year before we had a firstever win against Argentina at this level.”

The coach, however, is all too aware that, two years ago, Scotland lost 68-10 to the young New Zealanders despite leading 10-3 early on.

Dalziel has given the late call-up Lewis Berg a start in midfield. The powerful centre, who learned his rugby at George Watson’s College, played for Gala in the first half of the BT Premiership season, before spending several months honing his rugby skills in New Zealand.

Also bringing a Kiwi dimension to the Scotland side will the New Zealand-born Currie flanker Tom Gordon, who will have his first taste of rugby at this level. The other game in Pool B is between Ireland and Italy.