Scotland U20 v Ireland U20: Kenny Murray explains why it's same again

Kenny Murray has named an unchanged Scotland Under-20 team for Saturday’s match with Ireland in Edinburgh as he looks to build cohesiveness in his young side.

The Scots lost 22-10 at home to Italy last week in the opening fixture of their U20 Six Nations campaign and this weekend’s game is likely to represent a significant step up. Ireland won four and drew one of their games last season, beating Scotland 36-0.

Murray has had to integrate a clutch of new players this season because many of the squad which won the World Rugby U20 Trophy in the summer are now too old. He’s gone with the same XV to face the Irish at Hive Stadium but there is one change on the bench, where Edinburgh prop Jamie Stewart joins the replacements.

Scotland U20 lost their opener to Italy U20. | SNS Group

“We’re looking for that consistency across the pitch so we’re happy to be able to keep the same starting team as last week,” Murray said.

“We’re still looking for that 80-minute performance that we’re capable of, and it’s important that we produce something that our fans at Hive Stadium can be proud of.

“It was a great atmosphere for the game last weekend which was a valuable experience for our players to be involved in, and I’m sure it will be more of the same this weekend.”

Scotland U20 (v Ireland U20, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh, Saturday, 7.45pm)

J Brown; G Rogers, J Ventisei (capt), K Yule, F Watson; M Urwin, N Cowan; O McKenna, J Roberts, O Blyth-Lafferty, C Moss, D Halkon, C Lindsay, B Allen, R Logan. Replacements: S Stephen, J Shearer, J Stewart, B Godsell, O Duncan, H Patterson, R Wolfenden, N Moncrieff.