Lewis Calder has been handed the captain's armband for the Scotland under-20 teams Junior World Championship ninth/tenth play-off decider against Ireland at Rodney Parade on Saturday (21 June, kick off 1pm) and head coach Colin Robertson says the squad are aiming to finish the tournament on a high note.

The return of Calder at openside is one of six changes to the starting line-up implemented by Robertson following the teams previous win against Canada with try-scoring hero James Murray given the nod to start at stand-off.

Prop Lewis Niven has recovered from a shoulder injury and returns to the front row and Ross Samson has been handed the number nine jersey.

Meanwhile Andrew Rose switches across to openside and full-back Murray Allan and Tom Bury will start in the back-three.

Robertson admits the impact made by Calder, Murray and Samson during the extra time win over Canada prompted their starts.

Robertson said: "I thought the guys that came off the bench wanted to prove a point and they made an impact.

Lewis Calder did well and James Murrays try won us the game; they definitely made an impact.

We have always looked at the Junior World Championship as being a five game project. Now the guys have got the opportunity to finish in ninth place which they have never done before.

There is definitely a huge incentive for the players and everyone is completely focused on achieving that goal.

We are aiming to play better against Ireland because we felt we didnt play well against Canada; even though we did win. There is growing confidence in the squad after winning two games in a row."

After enduring a heavy loss against South Africa followed by wins over USA and Canada, Robertson admits his team have experienced highs and lows during the tournament

He added: It has been a rollercoaster ride in many ways. This tournament has enabled the players to prove their level and standard.

You learn an awful lot about players at a World Cup in terms of where they are in their development and exposing players to the intensity of these games has been beneficial.

Ireland are now the only hurdle Scotland has to overcome in order to finish the competition in ninth spot - one place higher than where the squad started.

Robertson admits that Scotlands next opponents are far from unfamiliar; largely because they have played against each other twice in the past six months.

He said: We are well aware of how Ireland can play because we have played them quite a bit.

We played our warm up match against them in Belfast, so it is fitting that our final match of the season is against Ireland.

I think it will be a really hard game, but all the players know what is expected of them and we will be aiming to finish on a high.


Scotland under-20 squad (team sponsor Martin Currie) for the IRB Junior World Championship play-off match match against Ireland at Rodney Parade, Newport (21 June 2008, kick off 1pm).

15 Murray Allan (Loughborough University)
14 Lee Jones (Selkirk)
13 Paul Loudon (Durham University)
12 Stevie McColl (Dunfermline and National Academy)
11 Tom Bury (Boroughmuir and National Academy)
10 James Murray (Leeds Carnegie and Edinburgh Academicals)
9 Ross Samson (Newcastle Falcons)
1 Gary Strain (Glasgow Hawks and National Academy)
2 Adrian Duncan (Stewarts-Melville FP and National Academy)
3 Lewis Niven (Edinburgh Academicals)
4 Fraser McKenzie (Heriots and National Academy)
5 Josh Brown (Bristol)
6 Andrew Rose (Hartpury College)
8 Craig Simmonds (Heriots)
7 Lewis Calder (Newcastle Falcons) CAPTAIN

Substitutes: Niall Shannon (Aberdeen Grammar FP), Gavin Cameron (Ellon and National Academy), Neale Patrick (Dunfermline), Jonny Baird (Watsonians), Peter Jericevich (GHA and National Academy), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Hawks and National Academy), Peter Horne (Howe of Fife)

This article was posted on 21-Jun-2008, 12:22 by Hugh Barrow.