Scotland will try to make experience count when they face England tonight in the opening round of the Six Nations under-20 Championship at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld.
Twelve of the starting fifteen played for Scotland under-20 last season and, moreover, for two of the team, flanker Jamie Ritchie, who has made a number of appearances for Edinburgh this season, and centre Rory Hutchinson this will be a third year of under-20 international rugby.
But there is exciting new talent in the side, not least stand-off Adam Hastings, son of Gavin, and winger Darcy Graham, the nephew of the former Scotland second row, Scott McLeod. Another likely to make a mark is scrum half Charlie Shiel the son of the Scotland centre Graham Shiel.
By contrast England are fielding a relatively new-look side from the one that finished runners-up to New Zealand last June. Even so with such a large reservoir of talent from the Premiership and Championship Academies on which to draw, England will always be formidable opponents.
Coached by former international full back ,John Callard, England are looking to develop a side that can perform well in June when the 2016 Junior World Championship is being hosted by Manchester. Callard has indicated he wants to move a way from the muscular approach that has characterised England under-20 sides of the past to a more fluid game redolent of New Zealand.
He said : “We’re looking to use this competition to continue developing an all-round game. For example, we want functionally fit forwards who, as well as having a strong set piece, are ball handlers and good decision makers right across the field. You can always come back to a tighter game but we want players to see this as an opportunity to express themselves and enjoy playing for their country.”
Scotland u20 : B Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby); D Graham (Hawick), R Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), T Galbraith (Melrose), R Nairn (Harlequins); A Hastings (Bath Rugby), H Fraser (Heriot’s); M McCallum (Heriot’s), J Kerr (Boroughmuir), C Sheldon (Leeds Beckett University), A Davidson (Glasgow Hawks), S Cummings (Glasgow Hawks), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby), M Smith (Glasgow Hawks), A Miller (Melrose) Subs L Anderson (Ayr), B Christie (Loughborough University), A Nicol (Stirling County), C Hunter-Hill (Stirling County), S Burnside (Boroughmuir), C Shiel (Currie), G Taylor (Melrose), B Robbins (Currie)
England U20 : M Protheroe (Gloucester Rugby); O Thorley (Gloucester Rugby), J Marchant (Harlequins), C Thacker (Leicester Tigers), G Perkins (Saracens); J Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), M Green (Yorkshire Carnegie); T West (Wasps), J Walker (Yorkshire Carnegie), W Stuart (Wasps), H Taylor (Worcester Warriors), S South (Harlequins), A White (Harlequins), J Bainbridge (Yorkshire Carnegie), C Chick (Newcastle Falcons), Subs J Singleton (Worcester Warriors), J Pope (Sale Sharks), B Keast (Exeter Chiefs), A Kitchener (Worcester Warriors), Z Mercer (Bath Rugby), J Shillcock (Worcester Warriors), S Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins), T Prell (Yorkshire Carnegie)
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