Scotland finished their RBS Six Nations under-20 championship in style with a deserved win over Ireland last night at Netherdale that was founded on massive forward strength and trenchant defence behind the scrum.
"This was a great way to end the campaign" said assistant coach, John Dalziel, adding : "They've out a huge amount of effort into this championship. I thought tonight they looked up for it right from the whistle."
Outstanding for Scotland in a hard working forward pack that had much the better of their Irish opponents were skipper and number 8 Magnus Bradbury who carried ball effectively and tightwad prop Zander Fagerson, who was cornerstone of the Scot's immense scrummaging.Behind the scrum Scotland showed their defensive qualities against an Ireland back like that threatened with fluent play.
Ireland put themselves under pressure straight from the kick-off after Nick McCarthy knocked on deep in side the Irish 22m area. Scotland took advantage first by attacking off the ensuing scrum and then driving a penalty line-out giving skipper Magnus Bradbury the opening try, converted by scrum half George Horne.
The Irish threatened when winger Stephen Fitzgerald cut through in midfield but a brave tackle by Rory Hutchinson stopped the move. There was further disappointment for Ireland when Ross Byrne failed with a 40 metre penalty attempt but not for Scotland as a second driven line-out produced a try for lock Lewis Carmichael.
If Ireland's talents had been suppressed by Scotland's aggressive defence and forward power then perceptions changed with a fine score by Stephen Fitzgerald, the left wing finishing off clever handling from the Irish backs with Byrne, centre Gary Ringrose and right wing Ciaran Gaffney key players in the move.
Byrne's conversion adding to an earlier penalty brought Ireland to within two points of the Scotland scores but the men in green were unable to make any further dents in the first half leaving the Scots ahead at half time by 12-10.
Ireland looked much more purposeful in the second half but against a Scotland forward pack that always caused problems for the Irish eight they failed to add to their points tally, the nearest the came to a try being a short range effort by centre Sam Arnold.
Thereafter Scotland dominated and were rewarded when Carmichael was driven over from a line-out to seal a fine win for the young Scots and perhaps a message for the senior team at Murrayfield today.
Scorers Scotland Tries Carmichael (2), Bradbury Cons Horne Ireland Tries Fitzgerald Cons Byrne Pens Byrne
Scotland under-20 : R Howarth; B Robbins, T Galbraith (Russell , P Kelly, A Coombes; R Hutchinson, G Horne; M McCallum (D Elkington 55), S James (R Graham 63), Z Fagerson, S Cummings(A Davidson 71) L Carmichael, N Irvine-Hess, A Mille (R Knott 66r, M Bradbury
Ireland under-20 : B Dardis (J Stockdale 59) ; C Gaffney, G Ringrose, S Arnold (J Stockdale 59), S Fitzgerald; R Byrne, N McCarthy (C Young 62); M Lagan (A Porte 53), Z McCall, C O'Donnell (O Hefferman 53), D O'Connor , A Thompson (J Dwan 63), J Murphy, N Timoney, L Dow
Referee T Foley (England)
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