Young Scots aim to make up for collapse against Italy as they face Wales
Scotland face Wales tomorrow at Sixways, home of Premiership club Worcester, in the second round of the Six Nations under-18 Festival determined to atone for losing 12 points in the last three minutes in their shock 18-19 defeat by Italy.
The Six Nations Festival is very much a learning process for all taking part and for the young Scotland players the manner of their defeat will be a lesson that the game is not over until the proverbial fat lady belts out her final number.
On the flipside, Italy’s winning performance backs up the impression that their academy system is bringing results in age-grade rugby, as was so evident is last year’s World Rugby under-20 championship in Georgia, when the young Azzurri finished seventh overall, ahead of both Scotland and Ireland.
Scotland’s opponents tomorrow, Wales, opened their campaign with a 20-36 loss to England at Gilman’s Ground, Hartpury, a similar margin of defeat to that experienced by Scotland in their warm-up game against England at Billingham last month.
Scotland head coach, Ross Miller,isexpectedtoannounce his side for the Wales game, later today.
Coaches are constrained in their selection because of the festival ruling that each player in a squad must be given at least one start. But due to the compressed nature of the festival, with three games in eight days, that surely is a sensible regulation.
Moreover it makes the whole competition more meaningful for participants, unlike in the senior game where players at World Cups, for example, have been known to have little or even no game time during the entire tournament.
In the other two fixtures tomorrow, France play Italy and Ireland take on England. The final round is on Easter Sunday at Kingsholm Stadium, the home of Gloucester Rugby, when Scotland play Ireland, England meet France and Ireland face Italy.
Meanwhile, the Borders semi-junior sevens circuit moved on to Volunteer Park with the under-16s playing last Friday and the under-18s competing a day later.
In the event, Hawick won the under-16 competition by defeating Melrose in the final. But, in the under-18 tournament, Hawick lost in the semifinals to Kelso, who went on to take the honours after beating Melrose in the final.