Rugby briefs: Young Scots | Cornish Pirates | Lloyd Williams | Melbourne Rebels

SCOTLAND Select will take on Scotland Exiles at Under-18 level tomorrow.

The match, which kicks off at 12noon on the 3G pitch behind the west stand at Murrayfield, will give Scotland U18 coach Eddie Pollock further options for the squad which will meet England on 1 March in Darlington and, subsequently, take part in the FIRA age grade championship in Spain in April.

SQUADS: Scotland select: G Robertson, S Govan, A Wallace, E Bulger, L Carmichael, R Knott, R Harrison, B Johnstone, A Manson , D Swanson, I Sim, S Halliday, A Swan, B Cochrane, G Currie, R Paterson, C Gouldie, Z Fagerson, A Leishman, B Flett, P Ramsay, M Douglas.

Scotland Exiles: C Miller, R Mason, S Kenny, C Sheldon, J Reason, F Pao Pao Brown, N Gray, F McCorquodale, M Symonds, J McRae, S Cannon, R Tait, B Richardson, B Vellacott, P Nicol, J Lang, J Francis, R Hutchinson, O Jarvie, C Hughes, O Murray, R Smith, R Norville, L Baker, G McConnell.

In-form Exiles face battle with Pirates

Cornish Pirates host eighth-placed London Scottish in the RFU Championship tomorrow. The famous ‘Exiles’ club will arrive at the Mennaye Field in good form, as a glance at their last four Championship results confirm, three of which were against the top sides in the league. They lost just 12-9 away to Newcastle Falcons, earning a deserved bonus point, and have since won at home 26-23 against Bedford Blues, won 14-9 at Doncaster Knights, and emerged 25-13 victors versus Nottingham despite being reduced to 13 men for a spell during the second half.

London Scottish team: J Thompson, J Love, O Grove, PJ Gidlow, M Mantella, P Godman, J Stevenson, N Mayhew, A Kwasnicki, E Fry P Spivey, T Hotson, B Russell, C Pennycook, M Bright (c). Subs: M Irish, H Allen, A Mackenzie, A Karonias, L Calder, R Bolt, A Reay.

Williams signs new deal with Blues

Wales international scrum-half Lloyd Williams has agreed a new contract with Cardiff Blues.

Williams, 23, has penned a three-year deal, the Blues announced.

He has won ten caps, including two as a replacement during this season’s RBS Six Nations Championship, and was a member of Wales’ 2011 World Cup squad.

“Without a doubt Lloyd is a key player for us,” Blues rugby director Phil Davies said.

“Lloyd is vitally important to the squad, we build a team around people like him.

“He is establishing himself in the Wales squad now, and our aim for him is to go with Wales to the next World Cup as the number one scrum-half.”

Rebels kick off with victory over Force

The Melbourne Rebels overcame a slow start to defeat the Western Force 30-23 in the opening game of the Super Rugby season at AAMI Park.

Trailing 11-0 after half an hour and still in arrears at half-time, the Rebels found some of their attacking flair to register a narrow opening-round victory for the first time in their short history.

Both sides ran in three tries, with the difference proving to be the reliable boot of Rebels full-back James O’Connor.

O’Connor didn’t miss a single shot on goal all night, while his opposite number Kyle Godwin failed to convert two Force tries and was also wayward with a penalty attempt early in the contest played in humid conditions in Melbourne.