Coach Dalziel opts for side that beat Italy as Scotland look to secure fifth place

Scotlandwillfacewalesforthe third time this season when the two countries meet today in the penultimate round of the Rugby World Under-20 Championship in Tbilisi to decide which side will play in the fifth-place final, writes Alan Lorimer.

The Scots lost 65-34 to Wales in the Six Nations match at Broadwood in February in a bizarre match in which the try count was 8-6.

Last month in a warm-up match at Bridgend, Scotland narrowed the gap considerably, losing 24-20.

At stake today for is a chance to play for an overall finishing position of fifth. Today’s victors will play the winners of the Australia v Italy game in the final round on Sunday while the losers will play for seventh and eighth placings.

The Scots’ best finish in these World Championships is eighth, achieved in each of the last two tournaments.

Last year in Manchester, Scotland, fielding a side weakened by injuries, lost heavily to Wales in the final-round match.

Wales go into this fourthround match on the back of two defeats in their pool, 24-17 to Australia and 34-22 to the defending champions, England , before finishing with a bonus point win over Samoa by 54-20.

The Wales coach, Jason Strange, understands that the World Championship match today will be different from the two earlier games against Scotland.

He said “This is a completely different tournament and there’s different conditions.”

For today’s match Scotland coach John Dalziel has opted for the same starting line-up that beat Italy 17-16 last Thursday in the Pool B third and final game.

On the bench there are two changes, with Boroughmuir’s Daniel Winning providing cover for the impressive Stirling and former Dunfermline prop, Adam Nicol, and Lewis Berg returning to the squad after starting against New Zealand in the first round match.

The focus today, however, will be on the top four where England play South Africa and New Zealand face France in the two championship semi-finals.