Freddy Douglas returns as Scotland Under-20s take on wounded Wallabies

The concession of too many soft tries was Scotland Under-20s’ downfall in their 56-19 defeat by England in the World Rugby U20 Championship opener in Italy on Sunday and head coach Kenny Murray has rung the changes for their second game, against Australia on Friday.

It is a quick turnaround for the young Scots who played in strength-sapping conditions in Verona on Sunday where the temperature was in the mid-30s. It is likely to be the same again in Viadana against the junior Wallabies who are licking their wounds after losing their first match 73-17 to South Africa.

Murray called it “an interesting result” and is well aware of the formidable strength in Pool A as Scotland return to the elite tournament after an absence of six years.

Scotland U20s' Freddy Douglas returns to the team for the game against Australia. | SNS Group / SRU

“I think everyone knows England and South Africa are going to be pretty strong teams in this competition,” he said. “If you're able to put 73 points on Australia then you're obviously a good side. We've got Australia next so we'll see how we get on against them and then we'll need to play South Africa in that last game in the pool.”

Scotland will play two classification games after the pool phase but with the tournament expanding next year from 12 to 16 teams, the threat of relegation has been lifted.

“We've reviewed the England game and we know we gave them too many soft tries, which you can't do at this level,” said Murray. “The players have recovered well, and the energy has been good this week.”

The Scots are able to call upon Freddy Douglas to face the Aussies. The full international openside missed the England game because of concussion but returns to co-captain Scotland with centre Johnny Ventisei.

The other changes see Exeter Chiefs’ Jed Findlay come in at full-back for Jack Brown for his Scotland U20 debut; Cameron van Wyk replaces Nairn Moncrieff on the right wing; Hector Patterson, a try-scorer after coming on against England, starts at scrum-half, with Noah Cowan, also a try-scorer on Sunday, reverting to the bench. In the pack, Oliver McKenna and Dylan Cockburn come in at loosehead prop and lock, replacing Jake Shearer and Bart Godsell, respectively.

Scotland Under-20 team to play Australia U20 in World Rugby U20 Championship, at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana, on Friday, 2.30pm BST. Live on RugbyPassTV: 15. Jed Findlay (Exeter); 14. Cameron van Wyk (Ayr), 13. Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow; co-capt), 12. Kerr Yule (Glasgow), 11. Fergus Watson (Glasgow); 10. Matthew Urwin (Glasgow), 9. Hector Patterson (Edinburgh); 1. Oliver McKenna (Glasgow), 2. Joe Roberts (Glasgow), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh), 4. Dylan Cockburn (Melrose), 5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow), 6. Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh), 7. Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh; co-capt), 8. Reuben Logan (Northampton).

Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen (Edinburgh Acad/Glasgow), 17. Ben White (Melrose/Edinburgh), 18. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh), 19. Charlie Moss (Montpellier), 20. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (Univ of St Andrews), 21. Noah Cowan (Brunel Univ/Ealing Trailfinders), 22. Isaac Coates (Edinburgh), 23. Jack Hocking (Edinburgh).