Wales u20 27 - 10 Scotland u20ALAN LORIMER February 09 2008
Scotland suffered a second successive defeat in the under-20 RBS 6 Nations after losing to Wales at Rodney Parade last night in a match that was always out of their reach.

Wales finished with a 4-1 try advantage gained from slick back play, which contrasted with the Scots' laboured efforts behind the scrum. Yet again, despite having a weight advantage, Scotland were not able to dominate the set-piece.

They also had few answers to the accomplished performance of Dan Biggar, the 18-year-old Welsh stand-off who is understudy to James Hook at the Ospreys. Biggar, in tandem with Jonathan Davies, the man-of-the-match, had the Scotland defence under pressure each time they gained possession.


For the visitors, there were encouraging performances from the forwards, among whom Gary Strain, the Hawks prop, impressed along with captain Lewis Calder at openside flanker and lock Josh Brown. But overall Scotland were outclassed by a Wales side that might so easily have scored even more tries.

John Jeffrey, the manager, was critical of the Scots' performance. He said: "We contributed to their scores by making an awful start and by making elementary mistakes. We got back into the game in the second quarter to trail by 17-10 at the break. But when they were down to 14 men they stepped up a gear when it was us who should have benefited."

Scotland were quickly in arrears as Davies, the 17-stone centre, accepted the perfect pass from Biggar and made a clean outside break to create a try for Lee Halfpenny, the right wing, who also converted.

Six minutes later the Scots were under pressure again and conceded once more. A delicate cross-kick by Biggar gave Scott Andrews, the tighthead prop, Wales' second try. Scotland had a chance to eat into the deficit but Ruaraidh Jackson's effort was wide soon after.

Another run from Biggar culminated in a side-stepping finish from prop Ryan Bevington to put Wales 17-0 ahead.

Scotland finally registered points with a try from a driven line-out credited to Strain, with Steve McColl converting.

Then, after a huge forward effort, they struck again, this time from a penalty goal by McColl to send the visitors into the interval only seven points in arrears.

Wales were reduced to 14 men after hooker Ryan Prosser was sin-binned for stamping on Strain, but it had little effect on their play. Full-back Daniel Evans eluded the stretched defence for Wales' fourth try, converted by Biggar.

His second successful kick added another three points, but Scotland should have hit back after a period of pressure.

This article was posted on 9-Feb-2008, 08:58 by Hugh Barrow.