THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Alan Lorimer
SCOTLAND Under-20s manager, John Jeffrey, has called for his charges to play a structured game in their IRB World Championship opener against a physical Samoa side at Wrexham tonight.

Jeffrey warned: "The important thing for us is to keep a tight structure and to stay disciplined. If the game fragments then we play right into their hands. They love broken play and can exploit it.

"We've seen how big the Samoans are. We know how Samoa will play. They're strong athletes and love a fast running game. Our midfield defence is crucial. If they make a line-break they have the talent to finish it. We're seeded three in our group but the boys want to finish higher than our ranking."

Scotland Under-20 (v Samoa U-20): P Horne (Howe of Fife); L Jones (Selkirk), C Kinloch (Edinburgh Academicals), S McColl (Dunfermline), P Loudon (Durham University); R Jackson (Glasgow Hawks, capt), P Jericevich (GHA); G Strain (Glasgow Hawks), A Duncan (Stewart's-Melville), J Stafford (Hillhead/Jordanhill), F McKenzie (Heriot's), R Gray (Stirling County), S Burton (Currie), A Rose (Hartpury College), C Simmonds (Heriot's). Subs: N Shannon (Aberdeen GSFP), L Niven (Edinburgh Academicals), N Patrick (Dunfermline), L Calder (Newcastle Falcons), R Samson (Newcastle Falcons), J Murray (Leeds Carnegie & Edinburgh Academicals), T Bury (Boroughmuir).

This article was posted on 6-Jun-2008, 12:42 by Hugh Barrow.