FRESH from signing off the Six Nations campaign on a much more positive note than the senior side, the Scotland Under 20s coaching team were yesterday handed another confidence boost.
Scotland's next generation defeated their Irish counterparts at Netherdale last Friday night to round off a stellar campaign in which they were undefeated at home and ended the tournament in third-place, their highest ever finish. Fresh from that fillip, it was announced yesterday that the Scotland under-20 coaches will take the reins of the world's most iconic rugby touring side for a historic one-off match in April.
Head Coach Sean Lineen and Assistant Coach John Dalziel, who is also Melrose's Head Coach, will pilot the Barbarians against BT Premiership league-leaders Heriot's, when they meet at Goldenacre on Tuesday 21 April. Both clubs are celebrating their 125th anniversaries.
The coaches will be supported by former Scotland scrum-half Rory Lawson, who won 31 caps for his country. He will fulfil the role of Barbarians team manager.
Lineen said: "It is a massive honour to coach the Barbarians against a really proud Scottish club. With a team like the Barbarians it's more like facilitating than coaching. You give the players some pointers, but you want to empower them to play free-flowing rugby.
"We'll have a couple of moves up our sleeves and some quality players who will bring a range of skills from the English Championship, BT Premiership and further afield. There will be a lot of tries scored from both teams, I can assure you of that. The Barbarians don't come to Scotland very often, so I'd encourage fans to come along and see a famous team fling a rugby ball about at Goldenacre, on hopefully a warm Tuesday night in April."
Dalziel played against the Barbarians the last time they came to Scotland, October 2011, for the South of Scotland. The South won that day, 22-15, at Mansfield Park in Hawick.
He said: "It's a great honour to coach the BaaBaas, who are a team steeped in tradition and am sure coaching them will be a different ball game to playing in a match with them. There is a culture of expansive rugby with the Barbarians and we will have a team that has an exciting blend of players.
"Our job will be to bring the range of skills together and construct a platform for the group to play from and then let them express themselves.
"Melrose and Heriot's have seen a lot of each other in the BT Premiership this year, so it will be nice to go up against them when the pressure of the league is off.
"Heriot's are a team who like to play an expansive game, so this match will be a great advert for Scottish club rugby and a celebration of Heriot's and the Barbarians' 125th anniversaries."
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