SCOTLAND U21S IN BONUS POINT WIN
Posted: 13/Jun/06


Scotland Under 21s put their World Championship campaign back on track in the fierce French heat this afternoon firing four tries past Italy to pick up a bonus point and win their second match 26-10.

Playing in 34 degrees, the Scots were quick off the mark when Cameron Johnston scored a try after two minutes, which captain David Blair converted. The winger crossed the line again five minutes later making it 12-0 at half time.

The heat took its toll on the Scots – Blair coming off at half time with heat fatigue – and the Italians came back to within two points after kicking a penalty and adding a converted try.

With only four minutes to go, Scotland were awarded a penalty try, which was converted by Greig Laidlaw. He again kicked the extra points when Ben Cairns intercepted the ball on the half-way line and ran straight beneath the posts, to seal the win and the all-important bonus point.

Scotland U21s team manager John Jeffrey said: “We struggled in the searing heat and to build ourselves up again after putting in all that effort against Australia in the last match to win only one bonus point.

“We got two easy tries early on and perhaps lost concentration a bit but thankfully we pressed hard at the end and got the tries. We didn’t play well and it wasn’t pretty but we set out to win with a bonus point and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”


Scotland U21 team v Italy:
James King, Cameron Johnston, Ben Cairns, Iain Kennedy (Chris Dunlop 60mins), Lee Kibble, David Blair (captain) (Ben Addison 40mins), Greig Laidlaw, Kyle Traynor (Ryan Grant 64mins), Sean Crombie, David Young, James Eddie, Ian Nimmo (Allan Kelly 52mins), Scott Newlands, John Barclay, Ross Rennie.

This article was posted on 13-Jun-2006, 18:51 by Hugh Barrow.