Scots U20s pluck player from Welsh ranks

A PLAYER who was being primed to represent Wales looks set to make his debut for the Scotland under-20s against their Welsh counterparts at Colwyn Bay on Friday night (7.35pm) after the Scottish Rugby Union was alerted to his eligibility.

Scrum-half Matthew Torrance was brought up in South Africa until he moved to the Ospreys on a development contract just over a year ago.

His mother is Welsh, having been born in Blaenavon, and at the time the then Ospreys elite performance director Andrew Hore said: “Our commitment to developing young Welsh talent is well documented and as a Welsh-qualified player, Matthew certainly fits the bill.”

However, his father is Scottish, hailing from Glasgow and, when Scottish Rugby’s Exiles performance development manager Rob Brierley became aware of this fact, he passed it on to Scotland under-20 head coach Peter Wright.

As a result, Torrance joined the age-grade squad for a few days’ training in January and, with Glasgow Warriors’ Murray McConnell unavailable this week, he has been named on the bench for Friday’s RBS Six Nations match at Parc Eirias. Given the recent Steven Shingler case involving the two countries at full international level, the selection is sure to have raised a few eyebrows, but Wright said: “I was made aware of Matthew by Rob Brierley in mid-December and we had a look at him and liked what we saw.

“We had discussions with the Welsh Rugby Union about the situation and to make sure everything was okay regarding eligibility and he has committed to us at this stage.”

Last month London Irish centre Shingler was told by the IRB that he is unable to play for Scotland as he turned out for Wales under-20s last year. They are Wales’ nominated second national team which would appear to tie him to them. However, if Torrance does get game time on Friday, it would not tie him to Scotland as the A team rather than the under-20s are Scotland’s nominated second team. Meanwhile, the IRB has confirmed that the SRU has made a formal request for a review of the Shingler case. A spokesman said: “A formal submission has been received from the SRU and a panel comprising three Regulations Committee members will now review the submission in accordance with Regulation 2 and address any questions raised. That Panel has been convened.”

No timescale has been put on the reporting of an eventual outcome.