Scotland under-20s equalled their best-ever finish at the World Rugby Junior World Championship, securing fifth place with a hard-fought 28-21 victory over Wales at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi on Friday.
The result matches Scotland's previous best of fifth, which they also achieved in 2017 — the last time Georgia hosted the age-grade tournament. Kenny Murray's side showed tremendous character, coming from 14-0 down before withstanding a late Wales surge while reduced to 13 men.
Wales started brightly, scoring two early tries to establish a commanding 14-0 lead within the first half-hour. Scotland responded emphatically, however, with winger Nairn Moncrieff powering through on a storming run before prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty twisted and turned to dot down. Stand-off Jake Dalziel added the conversion.
Minutes later, outside centre Henry Kesterton sliced through the Welsh defence with a superb line to score under the posts. Dalziel's conversion levelled the scores at 14-14 heading into half-time.
Scotland emerged for the second half with renewed purpose. Captain and hooker Joe Roberts — scoring his fifth try of the tournament — crashed over from a lineout maul to give Scotland their first lead, with Dalziel converting to make it 21-14.
Wales hit back through a delayed pass that opened up the Scottish defence, levelling the scores at 21-21 with 20 minutes remaining. But the pivotal moment came when Wales received their second yellow card of the half. Dalziel kicked to touch, and replacement scrum-half Matthew Fick fed winger Dan Kelly, who dived over in the corner. Dalziel's conversion made it 28-21.
Scotland finished the match with 13 players after yellow cards to Fick and Ewan Caven, but their defence held firm in a tense finale. Wales twice lost the ball over the line as Scotland threw their bodies at everything.
The win caps a successful campaign for a Scottish side that showed resilience throughout the tournament, matching the heights of 2017 and laying a strong foundation for the senior programme.
Sources
- https://scottishrugby.org/news-and-features/match-report-scotland-u20-28-21-wales-u20/
- https://www.world.rugby/news/1044128/md5-review
