Scotland secured a bonus point victory in the fourth round of the U20 Six Nations last night as they overcame Wales 27-12 in a pulsating clash at Hive Stadium.
The Scots opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Freddy Douglas touched down from close range. Matthew Unwin provided the extras.
Moments later the visitors were reduced to fourteen players after a red card was given to scrum-half Logan Franklin, who cleared out Nairn Moncrieff in the ruck.
Kenny Murray’s side had their second try of the evening just two minutes later after Moncrieff dusted himself down to add to Scotland’s tally with what was almost a walk-in try. On this occasion the conversion attempt failed to hit the target.
Despite being a man down, Wales rallied and got themselves on the board with a try from Ioan Emmanuel which was converted by Harri Wilde.
Then five-minutes before the break Jack Brown finished off a superb team move to cross the whitewash and Unwin’s conversion made the score 19-7.
Shortly before the half-time whistle blew, the Welsh second-row Tom Cottle was dismissed for what was a clear high tackle on Noah Cowan.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Wales were thrown a lifeline with 25 minutes to go when as an overthrown lineout from Seb Stephen gave hooker Harri Thomas an easy finish. Wilde missed the conversion.
But the Scots responded and extended their lead in the 65th minute with an Isaac Coates penalty.
Then with five minutes remaining the Scots secured their bonus point. With a second try of the night by Douglas.
Scotland U20: 15. Jack Brown, 14. Nairn Moncrieff (both Edinburgh Rugby), 13. Angus Hunter (Heriot’s Rugby), 12. Kerr Yule, 11. Fergus Watson, 10. Matthew Urwin (all Glasgow Warriors), 9. Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders); 1. Oliver McKenna, 2. Joe Roberts (both Glasgow Warriors), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby), 4. Charlie Moss (Montpellier), 5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors), 6. Oliver Duncan, 7. Freddy Douglas (Captain) (both Edinburgh Rugby), 8. Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen (Edinburgh Academical), 17. Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors), 18. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby), 19. Bart Godsell (Loughborough University), 20. Mark Fyffe (University of Edinburgh), 21. Hamish MacArthur, 22. Isaac Coates (both Edinburgh Rugby), 23. Cameron Van Wyk (Ayr RFC).
Wales U20: 15. Tom Bowen, 14. Harry Rees-Weldon, 13. Elijah Evans, 12. Steffan Emmanuel, 11. Aidan Boshoff, 10. Harri Ford, 9. Logan Franklin; 1. Ioan Emmanuel, 2. Harry Thomas , 3. Sam Scott, 4. Kenzie Jenkins, 5. Tom Cottle, 6. Deian Gwynne, 7. Harry Beddall, 8. Evan Minto.
Replacements: 16. Evan Wood, 17. Louie Trevett, 18. Owain James, 19. Luke Evans, 20. Caio James, 21. Sion Davies, 22. Harri Wilde, 23. Elis Price.
Player of the Match: Freddy Douglas (Scotland)
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
