Wales U20 25 - 15 Scotland U20: Young Scots take first-half punishment

This may have been their ninth successive Six Nations championship defeat at this level, but a second-half fight back, in which they outscored the home side by two tries to one, was a massive advance on the horror show against England the previous weekend.

That nine-try, 59-3 drubbing was always going to make the trip to Colwyn Bay a tough mental test but, some weak tackling aside, they came through with their pride intact.

The Welsh experiment of taking their three home Under-20 fixtures to north Wales worked a treat on opening night as almost 6,000 fans turned out to get a rare sight of international rugby and the home side responded by going in at the break 18-3 ahead.

That lead built to 28-3 after 62 minutes, when left wing Luke Morgan raced through for his second try. However, Scotland fought back and dominated the closing quarter. The brace of tries from the Edinburgh Accies wing Farndale was well deserved and if the game had gone on for a further five or ten minutes there could have been even more tries.

To his credit, captain Harry Leonard recovered from a poor start, when he blasted two eminently kickable penalties well wide of the mark, and urged his team on with some slick distribution and strong leadership. Instead of shooting for two penalty goals he opted to kick to the corner and it was those bold decisions that the tries came.

Welsh back row Dan Thomas caused havoc for the 68 minutes he was on the pitch and helped himself to ball after ball at the breakdown.

Thomas backed up the chase of a long Sam Davies kick into the Scottish 22 that led to the opening try of the game after 12 minutes. Towering centre Cory Allen was first to challenge Michael Crawley as he gathered close to his line and Thomas helped Wales regain possession. Then it was just a case of two long passes before full back Ross Jones crossed.

Davies couldn’t convert that one, but his prodigious boot accounted for 13 points in the end and his general kicking game caused no end of problems for the visitors.

Leonard made it third time lucky to get Scotland’s only first-half points from 30 metres, but Wales worked Morgan away for his first try before the break and Davies’ conversion made it 18-3. A third Davies penalty kept the scoreboard moving for Wales in the second half before the outside half put Morgan through a tiny gap on the edge of the Scottish 22 to allow the Bridgend wing to cross at the posts. Davies converted.

However, Farndale provided a sting in the tail, and hope for the future, as he pounced for his two tries.

Scorers: Tries: L Morgan 2, R Jones; Con: S Davies 2; Pens: S Davies 3. Scotland U20 Tries: J Farndale 2; Con: H Leonard; Pen: H Leonard.

Wales Under 20: Ross Jones (Ospreys); Iolo Evans (Scarlets), Luke Williams (Dragons), Cory Allen (Blues), Luke Morgan (Ospreys); Sam Davies (Ospreys), Jonathan Evans (Dragons); Rob Evans (Scarlets), Kirby Myhill (Scarlets, captain), WillGriff John (Blues), Matthew Screech (Blues), Rhodri Hughes (Ospreys), Ellis Jenkins (Blues), Daniel Thomas (Scarlets), Ieuan Jones (Dragons). Replacements: Thomas Davies (Blues) for Evans 62; Thomas Young (Blues) for Thomas 68; Dan Crimmins (Cardiff) for Ieuan Jones; Dominic Franchi (Dragons) for Allen 70.

Scotland Under 20: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Heriot’s); Jamie Farndale (Edinburgh Rugby), Robbie Fergusson (Ayr), Tommaso Allan (Western Province), Michael Crawley (Boroughmuir); Harry Leonard (Edinburgh Rugby, Captain), Scott Steele (Leicester Tigers); Jamie Bhatti (Stirling County), George Turner (Edinburgh Rugby ), Alex Allan (Loughborough Students), Adam Sinclair (Stirling County), Jonny Gray (Hamilton), Mitch Eadie (Bristol Rugby), Will Bordill (Sale Sharks). Jamie Swanson (Boroughmuir). Replacments: Gavin Robertson (Dundee HSFP) for Allan 21; Andrew Redmayne (Dundee HSFP) for Sinclair 58, Callum Reid (Edinburgh Accies) for Bordill 75; Finn Russell (Falkirk) for Fergusson 53, Matthew Torrance (Ospreys) for Steele 58.