Bob McKillop believes there is still plenty to come from his Scotland under-19 squad ahead of their final match of the season against France at Braidholm on Sunday 11 April (kick off 2pm, free admission) and says the players are in a buoyant mood.
Scotland under-19 chalked up an impressive 32-3 win over Italy in Parabiago last week with McKillop’s team scoring four tries and dominating at the set-piece.
But McKillop stresses there is still room for improvement and he is urging his players to raise their standards for the task of overcoming France on home soil this weekend.
McKillop said: “We were satisfied with our performance against Italy, but there are aspects of the game which we would like to tighten up on and improve.
“We believe that we can perform to a higher level because we realise that playing against France will be a much tougher test.
“I believe there is still a lot more to come from this squad. The win last week will have given the players a confidence boost and now it is all about moving that momentum forward.”
Kerr Gossman, James Tyas, Danny Gilmour and Duncan Morrison all managed to score tries against Italy.
McKillop admits the team will continue to employ an expansive brand of attacking rugby against France, but stresses the players will not lose sight of their primary objective – winning the match.
He added: “As a squad, we are always looking to keep the ball moving. We realise we are perhaps not the biggest squad, so we don’t want to give any static targets for the opposing side to hit.
“We also realise that set-piece and field position are very important in winning international matches.
“We are looking to attack, but we will be looking to do that with the right type of ball and in the right areas of the pitch.”
The starting line-up is unchanged from the team that won in Italy with Duncan Weir continuing at centre.
On the bench, Gala’s Gregor Hunter is named amongst the replacements while a decision is still yet to be made regarding one of the prop replacementa on the bench.
Oakham School's Hamish Watson is also named amongst the replacements with both teams fielding 23-man squads for the fixture.
Scotland under-19 team to play France under-19 at Braidholm (Sunday 11 April, kick off 2pm)
15 Glenn Bryce (Stirling County)
14 Michael Doneghan (Stewart’s Melville FP)*
13 Danny Gilmour (Stirling County)**
12 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Hawks)**
11 Kerr Gossman (Glasgow Hawks)
10 Stuart Edwards (captain, Stirling County)
9 Stevie Turnbull (Hamilton)
1 Nick Fraser (Boroughmuir)
2 David Cherry (Edinburgh Academicals)
3 Steve Quigley (Hull Ionians)
4 Blair McPherson (Ayr)
5 Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland)**
6 James Tyas (Brighton College)
7 Robbie Boswell (Stirling County)
8 Cammy Orr (Boroughmuir)
Substitutes: Richard Ferguson (Melrose), Duncan Morrison (North Walsham), Chris Keen (Kelso)/George Hunter (Glasgow Hawks), Andrew Kirkland (Glasgow Hawks)**, Lewis Crosbie (Dunfermline), Gregor Hunter (Gala), Craig Jackson (Melrose)**, Hamish Watson (Oakham School).
This article was posted on 9-Apr-2010, 07:09 by Hugh Barrow.
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