Wallabies friendly could be perfect tonic for U20s ahead of IRB Championship

SCOTLAND'S under-20 squad set off for the IRB World Junior Championships in Italy on Monday hoping to put behind them a winless Six Nations Championship that was more about learning than results, and ready to draw on some pre-tournament inspiration in the form of friendly action with young Wallabies.

Ahead of their opening fixture with South Africa in a fortnight's time, Peter Wright's squad are to spend a week in Varese, to the north of Milan, where they will take part in two joint training sessions with their Australian counterparts, before squaring up to the junior Wallabies in a challenge match comprised of three 20-minute sessions next Friday. Wright said: "It's a boost for us to be heading out to Italy promptly. It gives us a good opportunity to get used to the conditions we'll be playing in, and the time we'll spend with the Australians will be another helpful step towards making sure we're in exactly the right place come kick-off against the South Africans.

"It's about each and every member of the squad understanding their role, and coming together over the next four weeks to show just what it means to them to represent the nation."

The Pool C schedule sees Scotland face South Africa in Padova on Friday, 10 June, England in Treviso on Tuesday 14 June and then Ireland in Rovigo on Saturday, 18 June. The South Africa and England matches will both be screened live by Sky Sports and on the IRB website (www.irb.com/jwc).

With the Scots having lost to England and Ireland this season, Wright acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing his youngsters.

"The quality of opposition in our pool is there for all to see," he added, "with a team (South Africa] who finished third in last year's competition and another two (England and Ireland] who showed in the Six Nations Championship that they're capable of causing anybody problems.

"(But] the message that lingers from the Six Nations is that we've got players with the skills and the (right] attitude. We were hugely disappointed to not [get] better results, but there were plenty of things we can take forward into this tournament and hopefully do ourselves justice."

Scotland Under-20 squad

Backs: Sam Atkin (Edinburgh Accies), Mark Bennett (Glasgow/Ayr), Glenn Bryce (Heriot's), Michael Doneghan (Glasgow/Stirling County), Danny Gilmour (Stirling County), Stuart Edwards (Stirling County), Kerr Gossman (Glasgow/Glasgow Hawks), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow/Hawick), Craig Jackson (Melrose), Sean Kennedy (Stirling County), Jamie Stevenson (Westcombe Park), Duncan Weir (Glasgow).

Forwards: Alex Allan (Loughborough University), David Cherry (Team Northumbria), Mitch Eadie (Bristol), Richard Ferguson (Melrose), Robin Hislop (Edinburgh/Boroughmuir), George Hunter (Glasgow/Glasgow Hawks), Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland), Colin Phillips (Edinburgh/Stewart's Melville), Grant Runciman (Melrose), Alex Spence (Heriot's), Jamie Swanson (Boroughmuir), Mitchell Todd (Nottingham), James Tyas (Bath), Hamish Watson (Leicester Tigers)

Fixtures:

Friday 10 June, Padova, 7.10pm BST: South Africa v Scotland (live on Sky Sports/IRB website streaming)

Tuesday 14 June, Treviso, 5.10pm BST: England v Scotland (live on Sky Sports/IRB website streaming)

Sat 18 June, Rovigo, 7.10pm BST: Ireland v Scotland