A number of Glasgow players were on U21 duty tonight as Scotland took on the Edinburgh Gunners back-up squad tonight on the back pitches at Murrayfield.
The U21s eventually went down 21-10 to a pretty experienced Edinburgh team.

Glasgow Hawk's Iain Kennedy,plus James Eddie and John Barclay were joined by John Beattie in the Scotland XV.


YOUNG SCOTS BATTLE HARD AGAINST GUNNERS
Posted: 21/Nov/05
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SCOTLAND UNDER-21 10 EDINBURGH GUNNERS BACK-UP 21

A determined Scotland Under-21 side tested the Edinburgh Gunners back-up squad tonight on the back pitches at Murrayfield and fought hard for a 21-10 defeat, a scoreline that at a glance did not do them justice for their efforts.

Despite the loss the young Scots will take much from their performance which saw them challenge the Gunners right up to the final whistle and pleased coach Iain Paxton. He said: “This match was exactly what we wanted. It was a very physical game but the level of commitment from our side was first rate.

“We’d obviously have liked to win but we can take a lot of positives from the performance. The Gunners had a strong side out in the first half and we did very well against them. In the second half we held them on points at 7-7 so I’m pleased,” he added.

Despite the bitter evening the match attracted some 200 spectators, among whom were Scotland national coach Frank Hadden, Scotland captain Jason White and his team mates Scott Lawson and Mike Blair, the latter keeping an eye on the progress of younger brother David who is impressing at Sale Sharks.

Edinburgh opened the scoring after just sevens minutes of this hard fought contest as full-back Nick De Luca surged up the left touchline having run on a cracking angle from inside his own half. He was caught by the covering defence but the Gunners were awarded a scrum. Their first attempt at the line was denied but Edinburgh persevered and lock Alasdair Strokosch was shunted over for the score. Stand-off Hodge converted the try for a 7-0 lead.

The Under-21s struck back and following a period of dogged pressure in the Edinburgh half they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which stand-off Dave Blair duly slotted to close the gap 14 minutes into the game.

There was clearly no love loss between the two sides and it wasn’t for a further 10 minutes that a line was breached. It went in the Gunners’ favour as from a lineout centre Jorgensen cut back on an angle but the door was closed in his face just yards out. However, quick ball allowed Stewart’s Melville prop Paul Wharakura to force his way over the line. Hodge added the conversion for a 14-3 lead that saw the sides into half time.

Again the young Scots came back fighting and after the break they held the Gunners back in Edinburgh’s half. Scotland’s impressive back-row, consisting of one Edinburgh and two Glasgow apprentices in the shape of Alan MacDonald, John Barclay and John Beattie, put up a strong defence against the Edinburgh line.

It wasn’t until 10 minutes into the second half that the next score came as the vocal Jorgensen charged off up the right hand side. He passed to winger Dave McCall but the 18 year old found no way through. The ball came back to replacement Ander Monro who shipped it wide to the waiting Gunners and a flick from De Luca gave prop Dickinson room to move. He popped the ball out of a tackle to hooker Andrew Kelly who shrugged off a covering tackle to touch down in the corner. Hodge was again accurate and the Gunners led 21-3.

That scoreline certainly didn’t reflect the run of the game in terms of possession and passion and Scotland Under-21 were rewarded for their continued determination and guts. They worked their way back up the field with replacement stand-off James King controlling the game well. Fellow replacement Lee Kibble also impressed with some decisive running and solid defence.

Scotland’s try came as King gathered the ball from scrum-half Greig Laidlaw before shipping it to Kibble. The stand-off looped round and took the ball back again as a gap opened in front of him. He sliced through it and dived for the line before converting his own score to close the gap to 21-10.

Desperate for more the U21s continued to test the Gunners but neither side was able to force their way through and the score remained the same until Gala referee Davie Dods’ final whistle.

Gunners’ coach Todd Blackadder said: “I’m very pleased. This was a much more useful exercise than a training session for testing the players after three weeks without a match and I thought we played very well. Scotland U21s looked very good and they made life difficult for us right up to the final whistle.”

SCOTLAND UNDER-21: Iain Kennedy (Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Hawks); Ben Addison (Stirling County), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh Gunners and Currie), Garry Law (Border Reivers and Hawick), Stevie Craig (Gala); David Blair (Sale Sharks), Greig Laidlaw (Jed-Forest); Ryan Grant (The Army), Sean Crombie (Aberdeen GSFP), Innes Brown (Stirling County), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors and Ayr), Ian Nimmo (Leicester Tigers), John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors and Stirling County), John Beattie (Glasgow Warriors and Aberdeen GSFP), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh Gunners)
Substitutes: Dylan Mason (Stirling County) (for Crombie 63mins), Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh Gunners and Boroughmuir) (for Brown 40mins) Greig Scott (Boroughmuir), Scott Newlands (Heriot’s), Ross Miller (Melrose), Ciaran Beattie (Selkirk), Michael Rutherford (Selkirk), Lee Kibble (Border Reivers and Biggar) (for Law 55mins), James King (Border Reivers and Melrose), Robert Cairns (Boroughmuir) (for Craig 70mins)

EDINBURGH GUNNERS: Nick De Luca; Dave McCall, Peter Jorgensen, Matt Dey, Andrew Easson; Duncan Hodge CAPTAIN, Jamie Blackwood; Paul Wharakura (Stewart’s Melville FP), Andrew Kelly, Alasdair Dickinson, Alasdair Strokosch, Fergus Pringle, Simon Cross, Dave Callam, Ross Rennie
Substitutes: Steve Lawrie (for Kelly 65mins), Kian Coertze (Watsonians) (for Wharakura 65mins), Stephen Dalgleish (Stewart’s Melville FP) (for Cross 65mins), Angus Martyn (Boroughmuir) (for Rennie 65mins), Ander Monro (for Blackwood 40mins), Brian Rennie (Watsonians) (for Jorgensen 60mins), Richard Borthwick (Stewart’s Melville FP) (for Easson 60mins)

This article was originally posted on 22-Nov-2005, 07:50 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 22-Nov-2005, 08:24.