Scotland under-20 will seek to move the ball, and their opposition, in their opening game of the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship against South Africa in Padova, Italy tomorrow night.
That was the message that came loud and clear from coach and captain after the team to face South Africa was announced earlier today.
Head coach, Peter Wright, said: “South Africa have said frequently that they’ve picked their biggest side for this championship. They don’t have a front row under 120kgs so I expect they’ll be pretty direct.
“We need to match that physicality with some of our own but it’s important that we keep the ball alive, get the ball into the late phases and play in the wide channels.
“We aren’t here to play second fiddle to anyone. We have to make sure that when every player plays for Scotland they play the very best they can.
“We know it will be tough but there’s a lot of confidence among the squad and if every single player plays to the best of their ability then we can go in there and get a positive result.”
Scotland welcome the addition of Glasgow Warriors’ Duncan Weir (stand-off) and Stuart Hogg (full-back), both of whom were blooded in the recently re-branded RaboDirect Pro12, while the physical presence of Danny Gilmour (Stirling County) will be partnered by the guile of recent Clermont Auvergne signing, Mark Bennett.
Weir, whose most recent captaincy was earned at former club Cambuslang, said: “I’m very happy and very proud to be picked to captain my country and be in a position of power to unleash the dangerous back line that we have here.
“At stand-off you’ve got to be vocal and a leader on the pitch so there isn’t a lot to add to my role in that respect.
“We hear South Africa have gone for bulk and size, so we’ll be aiming to move them about a bit, and keep them moving.
“The young guys like Mark Bennett, Stuart Hogg and Glenn Bryce are all dangerous runners while throughout the team we have players that can beat a man one on one, so we need to use that to our advantage and not get caught up in an arm wrestle.”
SCOTLAND UNDER-20 TEAM TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA IN THE 2011 IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday 10 June, Stadio del Plebiscito, Padova, Italy (kick-off 8.10pm local time)
15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)
14. Sam Atkin (Edinburgh Accies)
13. Mark Bennett (Clermont Auvergne)
12. Danny Gilmour (Stirling County)
11. Glenn Bryce (Stirling County)
10. Duncan Weir CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors)
9. Sean Kennedy (Stirling County)
1. Alex Allan (Loughborough University)
2. David Cherry (Team Northumbria)
3. Colin Phillips (Edinburgh Rugby/Stewart’s Melville)
4. Mitchell Todd (Nottingham)
5. Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland)
6. Jamie Swanson (Boroughmuir)
7. Alex Spence (Heriot’s)
8. James Tyas (Bath)
Substitutes
16. Richard Ferguson (Melrose)
17. George Hunter (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)
18. Robin Hislop (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir)
19. Mitchell Eadie (Bristol)
20. Jamie Stevenson (Boroughmuir)
21. Kerr Gossman (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)
22. Hamish Watson (Leicester Tigers)

This article was posted on 9-Jun-2011, 22:09 by Hugh Barrow.