Scotland U20 41-14 USA U20 : Joy of six as Scots regain confidence with 15-man effort

Published on Saturday 14 June 2008 19:43

Scotland U20 41-14 USA U20

AFTER a whitewash in the Six Nations U20 championship and defeats by Samoa and South Africa in their first two pool matches of the IRB Junior World Championship, confidence-drained Scotland desperately needed a result. Yesterday the young Scots answered their own prayers with not just a win but a substantial six-try victory.

"It's not often a Scottish side scores six tries" said coach Colin Robertson. "I'm proud of the way the boys bounced back from the South Africa experience. It says a lot about this group of players."

USA showed their capabilities by putting Scotland on the defensive straight from the whistle . In the aftermath Scotland struggled at two successive scrums and then gave away a penalty, but USA stand-off Hamish Roberts hooked the kick.

From their first line-out Scotland released the ball wide, Ruaridh Jackson created space for Paul Loudon who sent Kinloch on his way to the try line, Steven McColl adding the conversion.

It was the tonic that the Scots needed and the infusion quickly showed as loosehead prop Gary Strain burst upfield, shredding the remnants of the defence for his side's second try, though McColl failed to add the extra points.

USA, who had showed signs of breaking into the game, finally gained first points with a penalty goal from their scrum-half Sean Treacy, the son of the celebrated Irish distance runner John Treacy. The Irish-American came desperately close to repeating his kick with a second effort only for the ball to rebound off the far-upright, necessitating quick footballing skills from Kinloch.

USA then reverted to Roberts for place-kicking duties and this time the stand-off was on target to reduce the Scotland lead to six points. With half time approaching Scotland had a chance to goal from a penalty award but McColl missed, leaving the Scots leading 12-6 going into the interval.

Scotland made a dynamic start to the second half and were quickly rewarded, a trademark surge by their No.8 Craig Simmonds resulting in a penalty award converted into three points by McColl.

The tide continued to flow with Scotland as USA had an attempted chip ahead charged down. Simmonds dived on the loose ball before shipping it to McColl who, spotting a gap in the Eagles defence, charged to the line for his side's third try, his conversion opening up a 22-6 lead.

The margin was reduced after a second penalty from Treacy but it mattered little as the Scots again switched into try-scoring mode.

This time it was Lee Jones who triggered the score with good work on the blind side. Then when the ball was moved to the open, Jackson made a superb break, before McColl supplied the link and Loudon the finish. McColl's conversion pushed the scoreline to 29-9.

A forwards try attributed to flanker Barry Sheehan represented the first breach of the Scotland line but it only acted to spur the Scots to scoring another try, this time by hooker Adrian Duncan from a driven line-out, McColl converting.

Then in a final flourish Scotland struck for a sixth try as substitute Jamie Murray moved the ball sweetly for McColl to put Kinloch in for his second try, sealing an impressive win.

Scotland: P Horne; L Jones, P Loudon, S McColl, C Kinloch; R Jackson (capt), P Jericevich; G Strain, A Duncan, D Morton, F McKenzie, J Brown, S Burton, A Rose, C Simmonds. Replacements: N Shannon, G Cameron, N Patrick, L Calder, R Samson, J Murray, M Allan.

USA: T Moxness; A Ducoing, T Palamo, J Tracy, N Ebner; H Roberts, S Treacy; S Johnston, B Wayne, S Pittman, T Brown, S Lavalla (capt), L Murphy, B Sheehan, T Mokate. Replacements: R Fitcher, R McTiernan, M Paganini, S Metcalf, K Erskine, S Sablan, Z Test.

Scorers: Scotland – Tries: Kinloch 2, Strain, McColl, Loudon, Duncan. Cons: McColl 4. Pens: McColl. USA – Try: Sheehan. Pens: Treacy 2, Roberts.

Referee: T Hayes, Wales.