The Herald reports

Weir on verge of joining elite group in junior all-time points list rugby union
Published on 24 Jun 2011

The Scotland Under-20 captain Duncan Weir is poised to move into fourth place on the all-time points list in the Junior World Championship after contributing 20 points to Scotland’s 30-11 win over Tonga in Rovigo on Wednesday, writes Alan Lorimer.

He needs just one more successful kick at goal in the play-off for places 10 and 11 against Argentina on Sunday to move in behind three players, all of whom graduated from the Junior World Championship to senior international rugby. They are the Scotland-qualified Springbok stand-off Pat Lambie, the talented Australia midfield player Quade Cooper, and the All Black winger Zac Guildford.

Weir, who made his Scotland A debut against USA last November, refuted suggestions that he would be better back home for rest and recuperation rather than playing in the demanding environment of the Junior World Championship.

Weir said: “It has been fantastic for me; it’s given me the game time I needed and the opportunity I was looking for after coming off the bench for Glasgow most weeks. I’ve not picked up too many knocks: just the few bumps and bruises that you get in rugby. I’m looking forward to the next season already.”

Nor does Weir accept that the tournament is a step down from pro rugby. “There’s not much difference between this and the Magners League when you’re playing against the top nations,” he said. “The games are just as fast and tough.”

He said that his role at stand-off has been made easier by the platform the forwards have provided and the slick service and intelligent play of Sean Kennedy, the Stirling scrum-half picked out by Graham Lowe, Scotland’s high-performance director, as a player who has made huge progress. Weir said : “Sean’s been on fire; I don’t think we’ve come across a better scrum-half.”

Amid speculation that Ireland are to withdraw from the tournament next year, the IRB head of development and performance, Mark Egan, met with national high performance directors, among them Lowe from Scotland, Joe Lydon from Wales and Alan Clark from Ireland.

Egan insisted that such meetings are conducted regularly to obtain the views of member countries on how IRB-run championships might be improved. Lowe, while not revealing whether Scotland would follow the Irish, said: “We have had discussions with Ireland; we have to see where this championship sits with the development of players.

“I think we’ve seen progress this year from the 70-pointers in previous tournaments to competitive matches. What we have to ensure is that players acquire the skills at an early age. We cannot be teaching players the basic skills out here.”

alan lorimer

in rovigo, italy

This article was originally posted on 24-Jun-2011, 07:14 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 24-Jun-2011, 07:15.