Scotland U20s pick up Six Nations wooden spoon after thumping defeat to Ireland

Scotland picked up the wooden spoon in the Under-20 Six Nations after a thumping defeat to Ireland in Cork yesterday evening which saw the hosts clinch a well-deserved Grand Slam.

Scotland U20 captain Rhys Tait. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The 59-5 loss at Musgrave Park was a fifth defeat out of five for skipper Rhys Tait and his men and, having lost all five games in the tournament in 2021 too, it means the country have not won a game at this level since March 2020 just before the first lockdown.

Indeed, since a fifth-place finish at the World Championship in 2017, Scotland have won five and lost 30 games at this level. With relegation from the World Championship coming in 2019 and the next second tier World Trophy not until 2023 there are a lot of things for head coach Kenny Murray and the Scottish Rugby hierarchy to think about.

Ireland took an early lead in this one when Jack Boyle scored a try, converted by Charlie Tector. In the 13th minute, Ireland’s second try came through Fionn Gibbons. Try No 3 came from Jude Postlethwaite, converted by Tector, and then Scotland’s Robin McClintock limped off.

The bonus-point fourth try for Ireland came from James Culhane, converted by Tector, and when Ben Carson scored a seven pointer it was 33-0 at half-time.

Tries for the Irish in the second period came from Matthew Devine, James McCormick, Josh Hanlon and Gibbons while Tony Butler kicked three conversions. With Postlethwaite sin-binned, Ross McKnight scored an unconverted consolation try for Scotland late on.

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