DALZIEL HAS FAITH IN HIS INJURY-HIT TEAM
SCOTLAND Under-20s head coach John Dalziel is confident an injury-hit side minus playmaker Adam Hastings can still beat World Cup hosts England tonight and take a step closer to the knock-out stages. The young Scots’ sensational 15-10 win over Australia in their first match earlier this week made the rest of their rivals sit up and take notice. But the victory — the first ever by a Scottish team over the Wallabies at that age grade — came at a cost. Four of the players from the starting team picked up serious injuries — two of them being ruled out for the rest of the tournament. The biggest loss for the England showdown is Hastings, son of 1990 Grand Slam legend Gavin, who picked up a head knock and is now a doubt for the rest of the competition. Flanker Lewis Wynne is also unavailable tonight after picking up a head injury. Out for the rest of the competition are Darcy Graham and Rory Hutchinson. It was agreed beforehand that Zander Fagerson would miss tonight’s England game due to his club schedule. Despite so many set-backs, Dalziel believes his young Scots can secure a result. ‘I back this group to get a result against England,’ he said. ‘Yes, we’ve got a couple of injuries but I’m confident we’ve got the right team to win again. We have some fresh players because we are bringing six or seven guys in. ‘Some who had been starting for us all year found themselves on the bench against Australia and are coming back in to take responsibility. We are going in there with a bit of impetus.’ However, Dalziel admits the Scots need to play better than they did against Australia to have a fighting chance. ‘We beat Australia for the first time ever but we actually made it hard for ourselves because there were five or six opportunities we didn’t take. ‘We need to play better, especially as we are playing against 14 men for 30 minutes after they had a man sent off.’