| Scots must rise to the occassion - John |
| Friday, 07 May 2010 | ||
The young Scots side will face 2009 semi-finalists Australia and South Africa before taking on Tonga in a repeat of the side's 28-25 ninth-place playoff victory over the South-Sea Islanders in last season's championship. Having already amassed 15 under-20 caps from two 6 Nations and last season's world championships, age-grade stalwart, Stuart McInally, retains the captaincy. McInally - who recently signed for Edinburgh Rugby - is joined by a further five players who have the benefit of experiencing last year's world championship in Japan: Alex Dunbar, Tom Brown, Grant Gilchrist, Robert Harley and Alun Walker, while all but five of the remaining party featured in the 2010 6 Nations. New additions include Michael Tait, son of former Scotland and British Lion, Alan Tait, who returns to the under-20s having missed the 6 Nations with a foot injury. Anthony Kent, Adam Fedorciow and Russell Weir have been called up from the Exiles programme while lock Robert McAlpine makes the step up from the under-19 side. John said: "Since the 6 Nations we've seen some players develop through the age-grade and into the professional environment which is only good for the game in Scotland so, in relation to individuals coming through, it's been really pleasing. "But what we must take on board are the serious lessons learned on how to compete with the best teams and we're certainly going to have to do that going into the World Cup. "To play five test matches in 17 days, with a four day turnaround between each day is physically and mentally demanding so recovery is really important for us. We have to be accurate and specific about what we need to get right for our performance. "We have focussed on moving our game forward - while being conscious of the teams we're playing - to be a position to offer different options for different games. "Not every player gets the opportunity to go to a World Cup of any kind so there's a real prestige from being involved and there's a real excitement about the team - as there should be. "The pools probably don't get much tougher than ours. It's very tough and very demanding but that's what it's about - we've got to see which players in our system can go and compete at a world level." Scotland under-20 IRB Junior World Champions squad Backs * Denotes a member of the Scottish National Contracted Academy SCOTLAND UNDER-20 SCHEDULE IRB JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POOLS Saturday 5 June - Australia v Scotland, Estadio CA Colon, Santa Fe * At the end of the Pool phase, the Pool winners will be ranked 1 - 3 in terms of the number of points earned (see criteria of resolutions in the Terms of Participation). The same will be done for the runners -up, 3rd and 4th. MATCH DAY 4: THURSDAY 17 JUNE** MATCH DAY 5: MONDAY 21 JUNE** |
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