TRIALS GIVE COACH A WRIGHT HEADACHE
Posted: 02/Nov/05
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The final Scotland under-19 trial took place on the back pitches at Murrayfield last night.

With the Reds beating the Blues by five tries to three, head coach Peter Wright reflected on a night that brought him some welcome selection headaches.

“It was a very worthwhile exercise that brought a few lads to our attention that we hadn’t seen during the season due to the injury situation at the moment. It also reinforced our initial thoughts on certain players. The quality of basic skills on show was very high and I was impressed how both teams were able to get the ball wide very efficiently,” he said.

“Everyone that came along to the trial got at least a half so it gave all the guys involved a chance to impress. The trial has certainly made my job a lot harder, which is a good thing,” he added.

With the first test in the Under-19 Six Nations against Italy next month, the team are now looking ahead to their two warm-up matches against development sides from BT Premier 1 champions Glasgow Hawks and current second place holders Watsonians.

“We have already spoken with the clubs and are looking for them to field as strong a team as they can provide. It will benefit both us and them. It is not useful to either team to win by a large margin,” Wright said.

The opening Under-19 Six Nations clash against Italy takes place in Rome on Thursday 29 December (kick-off 2:30pm local time).

The two warm-up games are as follows:
Scotland under-19 v Glasgow Hawks – back pitches at Murrayfield on Tuesday 15 November
Scotland under-19 v Watsonians – back pitches at Murrayfield on Tuesday 29 November
(both games have a 7pm kick-off)

This article was posted on 2-Nov-2005, 11:43 by Hugh Barrow.