Kenny Murray insists there’s a lot to be excited about with Scotland U20s despite their 36-0 defeat to Ireland that left them winless in the Six Nations.

They battled well in the first half and kept Ireland to just a 7-0 lead with Hugo McLaughlin scoring in the 20th minute. It took until a penalty from Jack Murphy on 50 for the Irish to extend their advantage but then Evan O’Connell’s try on 60 minutes opened the floodgates.

Monroe Job was shown a yellow card just two minutes after coming on and Ireland added another try while he was in the bin with Danny Sheahan getting his first of the night. Sean Edogbo then secured the bonus point but the Irish weren’t stopping there and got their fifth of the night while the clock was red.

Sheahan was again the man who crossed the line and it meant Scotland finished the tournament with five defeats from five and they couldn’t manage to get on the score board at all in Cork.

Murray felt his side showed some real quality at times and dealt with the physicality of an Ireland side that are top three in the world and he’s confident moving forward.

READ MORE: Ireland 36-0 Scotland: U20s suffer another Six Nations defeat

He said: “For the first 50 minutes I thought the boys were outstanding and we went toe to toe with them.

“We’re disappointed to lose games. We want to win but I said to the boys in among results, the performance gets lost. We’ve had a lot of really good performances throughout in the Six Nations but we’ve not got the 80 minute performances we’ve wanted. We beat France and England in the second half and I don’t think we’ve ever done that before.

“I’m optimistic going into the Junior World Trophy. If we can defend and play like that first 50 minutes I don’t think anyone will break us down in that world trophy.

“Ireland are big, big men and they are fit guys. It was always going to take it out of us a bit in that second half. I always try to be positive and optimistic but we competed really well with Ireland. There’s things we need to get better at to get an 80 minute performance but there’s a lot to look forward to over the next couple of months and into the Junior World Trophy.”