TWO NEW STARTS FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER
Friday, 04 June 2010


Scotland will field two new under-20 caps in the IRB Junior World Championship opener against Australia at the Estadio CA Colon in Argentina tomorrow (kick-off 4pm Argentina time, 8pm BST).
Head coach Eamon John said: "The groups probably don't get much tougher than ours [Australia, South Africa and Tonga] - the balance of skill and physicality make it a very interesting group.
"It's very tough and very demanding but that's what it's about, we've got to see which players in our system can go and compete at a world level."
Promoted from the under-19 set-up, Robert McAlpine will partner fellow West of Scotland lock Robert Harley who, like centre Alex Dunbar, will play in his 11th straight under-20 match having started every game in last season's World Champions in Japan and this season's Six Nations.
Michael Tait [pictured], son of Scotland and British Lion, Alan Tait, will debut at outside-centre having missed the 6 Nations with a foot injury, while Alex Black will form a starting half-back partnership with stand-off Duncan Weir for the first time.
Elsewhere in the side, back three trio Tom Brown, Oliver Grove and Dougie Fife start their sixth successive under-20 match together having featured in every game in 2010 6 Nations.
Hooker, Alun Walker, is joined by props George Hunter and Nicky Little while the familiar back-row of Michael Maltman
and David Denton are steered by captain and number 8 Stuart McInally.
Other notable inclusions are Russell Weir, Callum MacBurnie and Adam Fedorciow who could make their competitive
Scotland under-20 debut from the bench.
Scotland under-20 team to play Australia at the Estadio CA Colon, Santa Fe (kick-off 4pm local time)
15 Tom Brown (Edinburgh Accies)*
14 Oliver Grove (Worcester Warriors)
13 Michael Tait (Newcastle Falcons)
12 Alex Dunbar (Selkirk)*
11 Dougie Fife (Currie)**
10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Hawks)*
9 Alex Black (Leeds Carnegie)
1 Nicky Little (Hawick)*
2 Alun Walker (Currie)
3 George Hunter (Glasgow Hawks)
4 Robert Harley (West of Scotland)*
5 Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland)**
6 Michael Maltman (Heriot's)**
7 David Denton (Edinburgh Accies)*
8 Stuart McInally (Watsonians)* CAPTAIN
Substitutes
16 Adam Fedorciow (University of Bath)
17 Anthony Kent (London Scottish)
18 Callum Stidston-Nott (London Scottish)
19 Michael Fedo (Watsonians)
20 Russell Weir (Loughborough Students)
21 Matthew Scott (Currie)**
22 Callum MacBurnie (Moseley)
* Denotes a member of the Scottish National Contracted Academy
** Denotes a member of the Scottish Rugby National Academy supported by the Scottish Institute of Sport
IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS
Pool A: New Zealand (holders), Wales, Samoa and Fiji
Pool B: England, France, Ireland and Argentina
Pool C: South Africa, Australia, Scotland and Tonga
Saturday 5 June - Australia v Scotland, Estadio CA Colon, Santa Fe (kick-off 4pm Argentina time, 8pm BST)
Wednesday 9 June - South Africa v Scotland, Estadio CA Colon, Santa Fe (kick-off 2pm Argentina time, 6pm BST)
Sunday 13 June - Scotland v Tonga, Club Atletico Estudiantes, Parana (kick-off 2pm Argentina time, 6pm BST)

This article was originally posted on 4-Jun-2010, 18:16 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 4-Jun-2010, 18:28.