#5 Andrew Davidson Scotland u20's (proof)

World Rugby U20’s Championship Italy 2015

Scotland U20’s

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#5 Andrew Davidson Scotland U20’s

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Scotland fall to defeat in World Rugby Under-20 Championship opener

Scotland under-20 fell to a 68-10 defeat at the hands of a strong New Zealand side in the first game of the 2015 World Rugby under-20 Championship tonight, at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma.

The opposition – who won the tournament the last time it was played in Italy, in 2011 – scored nine tries to Scotland’s one, eventually breaking away from a resilient Scottish side after a tight opening 20 minutes.

Scotland started the first half well showing desire which was complemented by their air of confidence.

After 15 minutes, Scotland, playing in their alternative red strips, held a 10-3 lead over their 14 men opposition with Rory Hutchinson knocking over a penalty and adding the extras to a well-worked Lewis Carmichael try.However, New Zealand retaliated in fine fashion scoring three tries of their own through full-back George Bridge, wing Tevita Li and back-row Akira Ioane. Stand-off Mitchell Hunt successfully added the extras to all the scores, as well as knocking over two penalty attempts, to give the All Blacks a 27-10 lead at the break.

New Zealand started the second half as they closed the first and went on to claim a further 41 points before the end of the game, with Scotland failing to register any further scores. Despite a gutsy performance from the Scots, the All Blacks crossed the line six times in the second period, with the clinical boot of Hunt slotting a further four conversions and a penalty to take his personal tally to 28 for the game.

Run of play Scotland stand-off Rory Hutchinson and his kiwi counterpart Mitchell Hunt exchanged penalties in a lively opening ten minutes, both side’s looking to showing strong attacking intent.

Jamie Ritchie, the Scotland skipper, made a gallant decision to decline an easy chance at three points, instead opting to kick for the corner, building on his side’s early momentum.

The captain’s confidence in his side paid off, as a well-worked driving lineout move allowed lock Lewis Carmichael to crash over and give Scotland the lead after 15 minutes. Hutchinson bisected the uprights with the conversion to give Scotland a 10-3 lead.

New Zealand retaliated immediately, first tying the scores through a George Bridge try and a Hunt conversion, before taking the lead as Tevita Li charged in from half-way against the run of play to cross the whitewash (10-17).

A busy Scotland attack came within touching distance of the opposition line on a number of occasions, yet wasn’t able to bare any fruit as they were unlucky not to dot down again before the half-time whistle blew.

On the stroke of half-time back-row Akira Ioane, scored New Zealand’s third try of the game, building on another Hunt penalty.

Half-time: Scotland 10 v 27 New Zealand.

Building on their first half lead, Blake Gibson dotted down for the All Blacks in the opening minute of the second period, feeding off another strong run from Li. Scotland were reduced to 14 men after 46 minutes as centre Archie Russell was shown a yellow card for a tackle the referee deemed as dangerous.

In Russell’s absence New Zealand added another 14 points with Mitchell

Karpik and Jack Goodhue touching down for scores, both converted by the boot of Hunt (10-48).

Following on from a Geoffrey Cridge score, the impressive Hunt added his third penalty of the day and slithered through the Scotland defence to grab a try for himself.TJ Faiane scored the final try of the match with Hunt’s seventh conversion closing the scores at 68-10 in favour of New Zealand. Scotland v New Zealand, World Rugby Under-20 Championship, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (kick-off 7.30pm GMT) Scotland under-20: Ruairi Howarth; Richard Galloway, Archie Russell, Tom Galbraith, Alec Coombes; Rory Hutchinson, Ben Vellacott; Dan Elkington, Sam James, Callum Sheldon, Scott Cummings, Lewis Carmichael, Lewis Wynne, Jamie Ritchie CAPTAIN and Ally Miller.

Replacements: Ross Graham, Murray McCallum, Zander Fagerson, Neil Irvine-Hess, Magnus Bradbury, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn and Ruaraidh Smith.

Valiant Scots unable to complete Irish double Scotland under-20 were unable to complete the double over their Irish counterparts as they fell to a 24-20 defeat in the second round of the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.A last minute try from Ruairidh Knott, duly converted by Blair Kinghorn, was enough to salvage the Dark Blues a bonus point in Pool C, yet wasn’t enough to cap-off the comeback and secure victory in the unrelenting Calvisano heat.In a very competitive first-half, Scotland were unable to make the most of their chances, contrary to their Irish opponents who held a commanding 15-0 lead after 35 minutes. A George Horne penalty minutes from the close of the first period opened Scotland’s scoring account, yet there would be no more points to speak of before the referee blew up for half-time. Scotland looked the stronger of the sides throughout the second-half, yet an inability to be clinical in the right areas hampered their chance of snatching the lead.Horne and Ireland stand-off Joey Carberry exchanged penalties in the opening five minutes of the second-half, yet Scotland were dominant and imposed themselves on the Ireland line with sustained periods of pressure.A Lewis Carmichael try, converted by Blair Kinghorn, kept Scotland in the game, yet a high error-count stopped the Dark Blues from taking the lead at any point.Ireland’s replacement stand-off Tomas Quinlan slotted a penalty in the 77th minute, building on another kick from Carberry, to give his side a 24-13 lead, and, seemingly, to close the game out.The undying spirit of the Scotland squad came to the fore as Ruaridh Knott battered his way over the line, feeding off the initial work of Richard Galloway who stormed up the park from deep, which clinched Scotland a losing bonus point in stoppage time. Kinghorn slotted his second conversion of the day to end the game at 24-20 in favour of Ireland.

Run of play Scotland opened the tie looking energetic, and hungry to set their stall out early. Wing Robbie Nairn and full-back Ruairi Howarth linked up within the opening minute, with the latter crossing the line, yet the referee pulled played back for a forward pass in the build-up play. Seven

minutes worth of pressure from the Scots failed to come to fruition, as Ireland managed to salvage the ball back and clear their lines.

A well-rehearsed move from the base of the scrum in the tenth minute, allowed Ireland full-back Billy Dardis to scamper over the line, following an initial break from centre Garry Ringrose. After failing to convert his side’s try, Irish stand-off Joey Carberry slotted an easy penalty ten minutes later following a Scottish ruck infringement (0-8). Scotland made good inroads, puncturing a solid Irish defence on many occasions, with Zander Fagerson and George Horne both coming close to scoring, yet their attempts came to no avail. However, an error-strewn performance from the Scots was not mirrored by their Irish opposition, who continued to take their opportunities. Back-row Conor Oliver was next on the scoreboard for the men in green, sniping over from close range on the half-hour mark. Carberry’s successful conversion gave Ireland a commanding 15-0 lead. Horne put Scotland on the board after 37 minutes, as he dinked over a penalty kick from directly in front of the posts.

Half-time: Scotland under-20 3 v 15 Ireland under-20 Ireland stand-off Joey Carberry and Horne scored a penalty a piece in the opening first five minutes of the second-half, as both sides looked to steadily build their scoring tallies (6-15).Ruariadh Knott came agonisingly close for Scotland, before their pressure paid off and Lewis Carmichael dotted down for his second try in as many games in the Scotland shirt.

Kinghorn’s conversion put the Dark Blues to within five points of the men in green on the 60 minute mark (13-18).Scotland took command of the game but an inability to be clinical in the right areas put an end to a number of try scoring opportunities. Ireland were down to 14-men following the sin-binning of try-scorer Oliver, yet the Dark Blues were still unable to convert pressure into points.

Against the flow of the game, Ireland slotted two penalties – one a piece for Carbery and replacement Tomas Quinlan – opening up an 11 point gap, and giving the men in green a 24-13 lead as the clock struck 80 minutes. Scotland, seeking a losing bonus point, took the initiative to attack from deep within their half, and their intuition paid off as wing Richard Galloway galloped up the touchline, finding his way into Ireland’s half.

Following another couple of phases, the Dark Blues scored their second try of the half through Ruaridh Knott, a just reward for his earlier effort.

Blair Kinghorn’s conversion closed the game at 24-20, giving Scotland a vital losing bonus point in Pool C. Full-time: Scotland under-20 20 v 24 Ireland under-20 Scotland under-20: Ruairi Howarth; Robbie Nairn, Tom Galbraith, Patrick Kelly, Alec Coombes; Blair Kinghorn, George Horne; Murray McCallum, Sam James, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Lewis Carmichael, Neil Irvine-Hess, Jamie Ritchie CAPTAIN and Magnus Bradbury.

Replacements [all used]: Ross Graham, Dan Elkington, Jack Owlett, Andrew Davidson, Ruairidh Knott, Ben Vellacott, Rory Hutchinson and Richard Galloway.

Young Scots make history with Argentina victory

Scotland recorded their first victory over Argentina at under-20 level in five attempts, as they secured a convincing 29-6 win over the South American side in the final pool game of the World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Calvisano.Robbie Nairn touches down for a score A trio of second half tries from the Dark Blues, including an exhilarating length of the field team effort finished off by Robbie Nairn, closed out the game after a tightly contested first half.

The win meant that the Dark Blues finish third in Pool C of the competition, perched above their Latin counterparts on five points. At the conclusion of the pool stages, Scotland under-20 seeded eighth, and now enter the 5th-8th place play-offs. This is the first time that the young Scots have managed to seed higher than ninth, and guarantees them their highest ever finish in the competition. First up in the play-off stages, Scotland will face Australia on Monday 15 June (kick-off 3.30pm GMT), and will either face Ireland or Wales in their final tie, depending on results. Scotland under-20 captain, Magnus Bradbury, said: “All credit to our boys, we did really well to control in the manner we did.

“We were pushing for the bonus point try, but , outwith that, we really turned up in the second half, as opposed to previous games when we maybe fell off. “To keep going the way we did, it was really good to see and be a part of.” Scotland looked hungrier than their South American opposition, and played the better rugby of the two sides from the offset.

Full-back Blair Kinghorn looked cool under pressure and bagged three penalties to give Scotland a 9-0 lead after 20 minutes. Argentina fought their way back into the tie, with only a monstrous hit from Scotland wing Richard Galloway and brave scramble defence from stand-off Rory Huthinson, putting an end to two very dangerous attacks. Argentina weren’t to go into the break empty handed as stand-off Domingo Miotti slotted two penalties of his own to close the gap to three points (9-6).

Kinghorn was unlucky not to close out the half with his fourth penalty of the day, as his attempt on the brink of half-time glazed across the face of goal. Half-time: Scotland under-20 9 v 6 Argentina under-20 Making up for his earlier misdemeanour, Kinghorn slotted a penalty goal in the opening minute of the second half to keep his team’s points tally ticking over. Only two minutes later, and against the run of play, Scotland scored a fantastic length of the field score to build on the momentum of Kinghorn’s goal kicking. Hutchinson pounced on a loose Argentina pass and took the initiative to launch a counter attack, linking up with centre Patrick Kelly and, finally, Robbie Nairn who used his sheer strength and speed to cruise over the whitewash – Kinghorn adding the extras (19-6).

Nairn’s score seemed to inspire his fellow wing, Richard Galloway, who was next on the scoresheet, again only two minutes after his colleague.

Scotland cranked up the pressure on an Argentina scrum to win it against the head, before some slick hands from the backs found the pace merchant who cruised over for the try (24-6).

A fifteen minute scoring lull followed, with both teams showing signs of fatigue in the baking Italian sun. The period of calm was ended in the 68th minute when the Dark Blues opted to go for touch from a penalty, before referring to their signature lineout drive to cross for their third and final score of the day – Lewis Wynne taking the credit (29-6).

Scotland continued to chase the bonus point, yet were unable to cross the line for a fourth score before the game was brought to a close.

Full-time: Scotland under-20 29 v 6 Argetina under-20 Scotland v Argentina in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship at Stadio San Michele, Calvisano.

Scotland under-20 team: Blair Kinghorn; Robbie Nairn, Alec Coombes, Patrick Kelly, Richard Galloway; Rory Hutchinson, Ben Vellacott; Murray McCallum, Sam James, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Neil Irvine-Hess, Ally Miller, Lewis Wynne and Magnus Bradbury CAPTAIN. Replacements: Ross Graham, Dan Elkington, Jack Owlett, Andrew Davidson, Ruaridh Knott, George Horne, Ruaraidh Smith and Jamie Ritchie.

Gritty Scots unable to overcome clinical Wallabies

Scotland under-20 failed to capitalise on their 7-5 first-half lead as they went down 31-21 to their Australian counterparts in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship 5th place semi-final. Jamie Ritchie takes a lineout ball A 20minute defensive lapse from the Scots allowed Australia to cross the line on four occasions and establish a healthy 31-7 in the second-half. Scotland fought back in the final ten minutes of the game, battling to within 10 points of the Wallabies, and being awarded two tries yet it wasn’t enough to claim the victory. Alec Coombes gave Scotland an early lead with a try in the sixth minute, feeding off the efforts of work-horse back-row Magnus Bradbury and his centre partner Patrick Kelly.

The prolific boot of Blair Kinghorn was on target once again to provide the extras and establish an early lead for the Scots (7-0). Opposition full-back Jonah Placid produced a fantastic solo attack to cross the line against the run of play in the 25th minute. The failed conversion from stand-off Andrew Deegan kept Scotland’s narrow two-point lead intact (7-5). As half-time approached, Scotland looked as though they were going to add to their tally, when Robbie Nairn stormed up the wing with intent. Only a last-ditch tackle from Austrlian skipper Andrew Kellaway would being an end to the attack.

Blair Kinghorn missed the target with his second attempt at goal, failing to take Scotland into double figures before the close of the half.

Half-time: Scotland under-20 7 v 5 Australia under-20 Australia came out of the tunnel after the break firing on all cylinders, scoring two tries from lock Lukan Lealaialoto-tui and replacement front-row Connal McInerney within the opening five minutes, both from forward drives. eegan failed in his first of the two conversion attempts, yet was able to add the extras to McInerney’s score (7-17).

Scotland were soon after reduced to 14 men as stand-off Rory Hutchinson was shown a yellow card for a high tackle. Taking advantage of their extra man, Australia continued to pile on the points with Placid crossing the line to score his second try of the game, before prop Matt Sandall added his name to the scoresheet minutes later. Deegan was accurate with the both kicks to take the score to 31-7 in favour of the men in gold. Scotland continued to battle to the final whistle as wing Richard Galloway scored his second try in as many games, finishing off some

patient phase play from the Dark Blues after 75 miuntes – scrum-half George Horne duly adding the extras.

As the clock past the 80-minute mark, Scotland again found themselves on the scoreboard, as they were awarded with a penalty try for an Australian offence at the maul. Horne dinked over the conversion attempt to put Scotland to within ten points as the final whistle sounded.

Full-time: Scotland under-20 (7) 21 v 31 (5) Australia under-20 Scotland under-20 v Australia under-20, World Rugby Under-20 Championship, Stadio San Michele, Calvisano, Monday 15 June Scotland under-20: Blair Kinghorn; Robbie Nairn, Alec Coombes, Patrick Kelly, Richard Galloway; Rory Hutchinson, Ben Vellacott; Dan Elkington, Ross Graham, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Andrew Davidson, Lewis Wynne, Jamie Ritchie CAPTAIN and Magnus Bradbury. Replacements: Sam James, Callum Sheldon, Jack Owlett, Ally Miller, Ruaridh Knott, George Horne, Tom Galbraith and Archie Russell.

Young Scots end season with best-ever finish After a needle-match 80 minutes in the unrelenting Italian heat, Scotland under-20 were just edged 17-9, in the final few minutes of the playoff for 7th/8th spot at the World Rugby under-20 Championship this afternoon. The Scots put the first points on the board, after six minutes, with a Blair Kinghorn penalty but within ten minutes were 7-3 behind following a Fitzerald score in the corner, converted by Carbery.

Kinghorn struck again with the boot after 24m to put just one point between the sides but then traded missed penalties with his Irish counterpart, keeping the score at half time as 7-6 in favour of the Irish.

After a raft of Irish substitutions around half time, Ringrose slotted another three points to pull the Irish 10-6 ahead. Three subs apiece around the 66m mark and fresh legs for both sides allowed the Scots to force another mistake and George Horne - who came on for Ben Vellacott at 56m - nailed the kick to pull it back to 10-9.

The match remained on a knife-edge until 72 minutes when Fitzgerald crossed for his brace, Ringrose nailing the conversion. Fighting to the last, the score remained 17-9 however with Ireland taking 7th place in the Championship. Despite today’s defeat, Scotland under-20 have still achieved their highest ranking in the competition to date, finishing in eighth. This builds on the momentum from this year’s under-20 Six Nations, when Scotland recorded three home victories to achieve third place, also their highest ranking in that respective competition.

Teams Scotland under-20: Blair Kinghorn; Robbie Nairn, Alec Coombes, Patrick Kelly, Richard Galloway; Rory Hutchinson, Ben Vellacott; Murray McCallum, Sam James, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Ally Miller, Neil Irvine-Hess, Jamie Ritchie CAPTAIN and Magnus Bradbury.

Replacements: Ross Graham (on for James, 65m), Dan Elkington (on for McCallum, 49m), Jack Owlett (on for Fagerson, 75m), Ruaridh Knott (on for Miller, 67m), Lewis Wynne (on for Cummings, 59m), George Horne (on for Vellacott, 56m), Tom Galbraith (on for Kelly, 65m) and Archie Russell (on for Nairn, 70m).

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