Impressive victory for Wales Under 20's
A dominating second-half display saw Wales Under 20 beat Scotland 33 v 3 in Stirling this evening.
The hosts controlled most of the first period but Wales still went into the break ahead and four-tries in the second forty minutes earned the visitors their first victory in the 2011 tournament.
Scotland prevented Wales from any early territory or possession and centre Mark Bennett kicked his side ahead after 12 minutes with a penalty, making amends for an earlier miss.

As the game went on the Welsh power up-front started to break down their opponents and Pontypridd's Ed Siggery scored his second try in two weeks as half-time approached to give Wales the lead.

The ball was spread wide with pace inside the Scotland 22 and after repeated attacks the flanker picked up and drove over for the score. Scarlets fly-half Steven Shingler added the two points with the conversion to give Wales a 7 v 3 lead at the break.

After the break, Wales took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Man-of-the-match WillGriff John touched down after good work from scrum-half Jonathan Evans down the blindside as Wales showed their authority early in the second-period.

Owen Williams and then Eli Walker grabbed a try apiece before replacement hooker Ieuan Davies rounded off the scoring.

Shingler converted two of the tries while Joseff Griffin kicked a further two points.

Scotland's indiscipline saw them down to fourteen men for a twenty minute spell at the 60-minute mark, Mitchell Todd and Robin Hislop both spending ten minutes in the sin-bin.

In front of 1,372 supporters in Stirling, Wales showed a positive and professional attitude. The forwards built a strong platform and the backs complimented them with attacking flair with the ball in hand.

Wales Under 20's head coach Darren Edwards, who was also announced as Newport Gwent Dragons acting head coach today, will be delighted with the victory but the match ended on a disappointing note with a player from each side, Stuart Hogg (Scotland) and Luke Hamilton (Wales) sent-off for their part in a coming together towards the end of the game.

Scotland U20: Glenn Bryce (Heriot's); Mike Doneghan (Glasgow Warriors/Stirling County), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors/Hawick), Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors/Ayr),Kerr Gossman (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks); Harry Leonard (Boroughmuir), Jamie Stevenson (Westcombe Park); Robin Hislop (Edinburgh/Boroughmuir), Richard Ferguson (Melrose), George Hunter (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks, CAPTAIN), Mitchell Todd (Nottingham), Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland), Alex Spence (Heriot's), James Tyas (Bath), Hamish Watson (Leicester Tigers).
Replacements: David Cherry (Team Northumbria), Colin Phillips (Edinburgh/Stewart's Melville), Andy Kirkland (Glasgow Hawks), Mitch Eadie (Filton College), Sean Kennedy (Stirling County), Craig Jackson (Melrose), Rom Steven (Glasgow Hawks).

Wales U20: Liam Williams (Llanelli); Adam Warren (Llandovery), Ben John (Ospreys / Aberavon), Owen Williams (Blues / Cardiff), Eli Walker (Ospreys / Swansea); Steven Shingler (Scarlets / Llanelli), Jonathan Evans (Dragons); Rhodri Jones (Scarlets / Llanelli), Sam Parry (Llandovery), WillGriff John (Blues / Pontypridd), Macauley Cook (capt, Blues / Cardiff), Cory Hill (Blues / Pontypridd), Ed Siggery (Pontypridd), Luke Hamilton (Blues / Glamorgan Wanderers), Ben Thomas (Ospreys /Bridgend).
Replacements: Ieuan Davies (Cardiff), Will Taylor (Ospreys / Swansea), Matthew Screech (Blues / Pontypridd), Owen Sheppeard (Blues / Pontypridd), Lewis Jones (Pontypridd), Joseff Griffin (Blues / Cardiff), Jack Gadd (Bristol)

This article was posted on 11-Feb-2011, 22:08 by Hugh Barrow.