A revitalised Scotland side came desperately close to achieving a win over match favourites Wales in yesterday's second round of the IRB Junior World Championship at the Stade Pascal Laporte in Nantes.
But the young Scots were not unrewarded, their five points deficit earning them a bonus point, their first gain in the tournament.
The point could yet be important in determining the rankings at the end of the Pool stage on Thursday and which group the young Scots will be in for the final two rounds of the championship.
Scotland showed they had at least recovered from the heavy defeat to Argentina in the opening round last week, their confidence and self-belief contributing to a 16-13 lead over Wales early in the second half.
They had had to show strong character in recovering from a difficult start to the match that allowed Wales to establish a 13-0 lead with a penalty and drop goal from the Ospreys stand-off Sam Davies, and his conversion of a try by Scarlets wing Aaron Warren.
But in a dominant middle period of the match Scotland fought back magnificently with three penalties by stand-off Tommy Allan and then a try from the Stirling and Glasgow Warriors number eight Adam Ashe, converted by Allan, that gave the Scots a 16-13 lead.
Two penalties by Davies and then a try from Scarlets centre Steffan Hughes, succesfully converted, gave Wales a 26-16 advantage, but a late surge by Scotland resulted in their Leinster replacement Eogan Masterson crossing for an unconverted try to reduce the deficit and earn the Scots a deserved bonus point.
Scorers Wales Tries: Warren, Hughes. Cons: S Davies (2). Pens: S Davies (3). Drop Goal: S Davies Scotland Tries: Ashe, Masterson. Con: Allan. Pens: Allan (3) Scotland D Hoyland; J Farndale, R Fergusson, M Bennett, R Hughes; T Allan, S Steele; J Bhatti, R Anderson, D Rae, A Sinclair, J Gray (c), A Henderson, W Bordill, A Ashe Substitutes used: J Malcolm, P Cringle, E Masterson, T Spinks, A Price, C Auld, J Kilmartin Referee S Berry (South Africa)
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