Scotland face Wales today in the penultimate round of the Rugby World Under-20 Championship in Tbilisi knowing that at least one win from their two remaining matches would give the Scots a highest ever finishing place in the global competition.
The Scots are in the fifth to eighth group of countries. A Scottish victory today would mean Scotland playing the winners of the Australia v Italy game in Sunday’s final round match to determine the fifth and sixth positions. Defeat would pit the Scots against the losers of the Australia-Italy game for the seventh and eighth positions.
Does it matter? Most definitely, as the finishing place determines the seeding for next year’s tournament. Scotland’s best position, achieved in the last two championships, is eighth. Sixth would be a psychological bonus but even eighth will place Scotland higher than last year’s runners-up, Ireland and bronze medallists Argentina.
The Scots lost 65-34 to Wales in the Six Nations match at Broadwood back in February in a bizarre match in which the try count was 8-6. Then last month in a warm-up match at Bridgend Scotland narrowed the gap considerably, losing 24-20.
Wales go into this fourth round match on the back of two defeats in their pool, losing 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 has urged his side to play with intensity throughout. He said : “We are going after that ability to play at a high level for eighty minutes - there's been two or three minutes of lack of concentration, lack of physicality or poor decision making and that will cost you.”
For today’s match Scotland coach, John Dalziel, has opted for the same starting line-up that achieved a 17-16 win over Italy last Thursday in the Pool B final game. Dalziel is confident that his charges will have recovered, despite the short turnaround period. “The support staff have been amazing in working with the boys.” he said.
On the bench there are two changes. Boroughmuir prop Daniel Winning provides cover for the impressive Stirling tighthead, Adam Nicol, and Lewis Berg returns to the squad after starting against New Zealand in the first round match.
At the top end of the championship England play South Africa and New Zealand face France in the two Cup semi finals.
Scotland under-20 : B Kinghorn (Edinburgh); R Nairn (Harlequins), R McCann (Melrose), S McDowall (Ayr), D Graham (Hawick); C Eastgate (Wasps), A Simmers (Heriot’s); G Thornton (Bishop Burton College), F Renwick (Hawick), A Nicol (Stirling County), A Craig (Gloucester), C Hunter-Hill (Stirling County), L Crosbie (Currie), M Fagerson (Glasgow Hawks), T Dodd (Worcester) Subs : R Smith (Ayr), F Bradbury (Stirling County), D Winning (Boroughmuir), H Bain (Currie), A Erskine (Newcastle Falcons), C Shiel (Currie), J Henderson (Glasgow Hawks), L Berg (Gala)
Wales under-20 : W Talbot-Davies; J Rosser (Dragons), I Nicholas (Scarlets), O Lane (Cardiff Blues), R Conbeer (Scarlets); A Robson (Dragons), D Blacker (Cardiff Blues); R Carre (Cardiff Blues), E Shipp (Dragons), K Assiratti (Cardiff Blues), W Griffiths (Ospreys), S Moore (Pontypridd), S Lewis Hughes (Cardiff Blues), W Jones (Ospreys), A Ward (Cardiff Blues) Subs O Hughes (Dragons), T Mably (Cardiff Blues), S Thomas (Scarlets), C Bradbury (Cardiff Blues), S Blackmore (Bath), R Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), C Edwards (Dragons ), S Jenkins (Scarlets)
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