Scotland will face this year’s Oceania winners , Australia, for a second time in the World Rugby under-20 Championship when they take on the young Wallabies in the 5th place semi final match at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford on Monday.
The other fifth place semi final is between the five times World Champions, New Zealand, and the Six Nations under-20 grand slam winners, Wales. In round five winners will play winners and losers play losers, to determine finishing positions five to eight.
Playing a country twice is not uncommon in this twelve team format competition and in fact Scotland will not be the only team to have a rematch in round four. Curiously the other 5th place semi final between Wales and New Zealand is also a rematch, the two sides having met on Wednesday, resulting in a 18-17 win for the Junior All Blacks. Yet a third reprise is in the 9th place semi final between France, who have suffered their worst ever placing, and Japan.
Having already beaten the men in gold, Scotland should go into this second game against the Australians respectful but not fearful of the young Wallabies. “We know know what to expect from Australia and know how they play.” said the Scotland head coach, John Dalziel, who now has the relative luxury of a longer rest and recovery period between matches.
“The five day rest between rounds three and four changes things for the better in terms of selection. What is important is that we field our strongest side for this fourth round match. Every head coach knows you can’t play your top players in every game. I think, however, that we’ve managed our players pretty well so far. Our less experienced players have been exposed to this level of rugby and they’re adjusting well.”
“If we want to finish higher than eighth [last year’s position] we have to win the next match.” stated Dalziel, who cautioned : “I watched Australia play against England. They’re a hugely improved side.”
Dalziel knows that his forwards will have to front up against a strong Australia pack and in particular cope with the Wallabies’ power-packed polynesian front row. The Scots performance in the scrum against a beefy Italian forward pack, however, has engendered new self-bellief, according to Dalziel. “We gained a lot of confidence from the first four of five scrums against Italy. We really took it to them. Our line-out has proved to be one of the best in the tournament but we’re working on other aspects of our set-piece.” he said.
Whatever the outcome for Scotland on Monday, the Scots have already created under-20 history, with a first ever victory over Australia in round one, a highest ever points total at the end of the pool stages and the achievement of two wins from three games in the group matches. Now the challenge is to finish higher than last year, guaranteed if Scotland defeat Australia on Monday.
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