U20 Six Nations: Spirited Scotland in defeat to England

Head coach Kenny Murray was disappointed by the slow start made by his side. 

He said: "We made too many errors in the first half. We never got off to a great start, we dropped a few balls early on and compounding those errors fed their strengths.

"Not getting that fast start was disappointing."

The visitors took the lead with a penalty from Player of the Match Sean Kerr inside three minutes and opened their try account 10 minutes later when hooker Craig Wright got on the back of a dominant maul inside Scotland’s 22. Kerr’s conversion gave them a 10-point lead.  

Scotland’s brightest moment of the half came from a 60-metre counter-attack from Amena Caqusau after the visitors had spilled ball in midfield. The Scotland winger did his best to hold off the covering Alex Wills, but was eventually dragged down and England recovered well.  

Another cheap Scottish penalty allowed Kerr to extend England’s advantage just before Kenny Murray’s side lost captain Liam McConnell to an ankle injury.  

The visitors’ second try came on the half-hour and with Caqusau serving time in the sin-bin, Kerr added to his personal tally.  

Scotland enjoyed a period of pressure close to the England line just before the break, but again a Scotland mistake – this time a squint lineout – meant the chance came to nothing and ensured England led 18-0 at the break.  

It took just seven minutes for that advantage to grow as captain Finn Carnduff powered over from close range. Kerr converted.  

Scotland enjoyed another spell inside the England 22 just before the hour and got on the board with a try from lock Euan McVie after a quickly-taken penalty from Jerry Blyth-Lafferty. 

The visitors hit straight back through Nathan Michelow, who drove over after another dominant maul to secure the bonus point.  

Too often the hosts did not show the same ruthless streak as their opponents let England off the hook after creating promising opportunities.  

But they made no mistake with 15 minutes to go when Freddie Douglas, who’d won the penalty that set-up the position, drove over.  

The hosts scored a third late on, Geordie Geynn crossing out wide from a first phase strike move, but they weren’t able to get a fourth try that would have earned a bonus point.  

A third consecutive defeat in the championship means Murray’s side remain bottom of the table ahead of trips to Treviso and Cork for the final two rounds.  

Murray took positives from the second half showing. 

He added: "That's the last two second halves we've won against France and England. Scotland U20 sides in recent years have been nowhere near them. There are positives, but it's an 80-minute game and we can't give teams easy 40 minutes. We've got to be tougher."

He singled out Freddy Douglas and Isaac Coates for praise. 

Murray said: "Everyone was talking about Henry Pollock but the best number seven on that pitch was Freddy Douglas by a long shot. For Isaac, it showed incredibly maturity and bravery to perform the way he did."

Scotland U20: 15. Fergus Watson (Hocking 51), 14. Kerr Johnston (Ventisei 60), 13. Geordie Gwynn, 12. Kerr Yule, 11. Amena Caqusau, 10. Isaac Coates, 9. Murdoch Lock (Davey 60), 1. Robbie Deans (Smyth 51), 2. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (Parry 71), 3. Callum Norrie (Whitefield 73), 4. Euan McVie, 5. Ruaraidh Hart, 6. Liam McConnell (Burke 24), 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Jonny Morris (Currie 60)