Following an encouraging performance against France last weekend, Scotland regressed to their earlier form and suffered a heavy defeat at Colwyn Bay last night to finish bottom of the pile in the Under-20 RBS 6 Nations.
Wales carved out their victory in the scrum from a dominant display by their powerful front row. Three of their tries came directly from this area of play and Scotland seemed powerless to prevent the scores. Moreover, the Scots were handicapped by three yellow cards, adding to the pressure in the forward battle.
Yet it was the Scots who scored first, with a try by Damien Hoyland from a reverse pass by Ben Vellacott, with Gavin Lowe's conversion giving them a 7-0 lead. But they could not capitalise on a Welsh yellow card and Wales scored next, with a try by centre Jack Dixon and conversion by Angus O'Brien.
Then, after captain Tommy Spinks had been shown a yellow card, Wales came close to scoring from a driving maul. The ball was held up over the line but, from the ensuing scrum, the Scots conceded a penalty try, converted by O'Brien for a 14-7 lead.
A second yellow card, this time for the prop D'Arcy Rae, briefly reduced Scotland to 13 men, but again it was the disadvantaged side who scored next with a penalty goal by Lowe. Wales quickly replied with a try by back-row James Benjamin from a driven line-out for a 19-10 half-time lead.
The gap widened thanks to a try by the Welsh scrum credited to No.8 Will Boyde. Then, after a period of Welsh pressure, winger Joshua Adams touched down in the corner. Scotland's plight became worse when replacement prop Cameron was sin-binned after a scrum collapse and inevitably it resulted in a Welsh try, this time by replacement scrum half Tom Williams. Luke Pryce added the conversion.
Then, from a tapped penalty centre Staffan Hughes raced over for a try converted by Pryce. And although in injury time Scotland scored a try in the corner by Jamie Farndale, it could not disguise a heavy defeat.
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