Scotland 30
Italy 17
RBS UNDER-20 SIX NATIONS
A BUMPER crowd of about 1,300 saw Scotland under-20s, including Russell Anderson (Gala) and Shawn Muir (Hawick), win their first match of the under-20 Six Nations at Netherdale on Friday night.
Three tries from stand-off Tommy Allan, winger Damian Hoyland and lock and captain Jonny Gray saw the hosts trump their Italian counterparts 30-17.
The tries were complemented with three penalties and a conversion from Allan, who commanded the backs well throughout and his replacement, Alex Hagart, who added two conversions to the Scots tally.
It was an impressive display from a number of the young players, which coach Sean Lineen had much praise for.
Lineen said: “I’m so pleased with the players’ ambitions, they are a good bunch of guys and they work very well together.
“Jonny Gray had an outstanding game, Adam Ashe showed his talent, he’ll go a long way, Mark Bennett deserved the man-of-the-match title, Phil Cringle, Tommy Allan, Will Bordill and a number of others all played very well.
“They wanted to play an expansive game and at times that paid off, but mistakes were made. They have to keep working hard and developing, particularly in their decision-making.”
“But we’ll learn an awful lot from tonight.”
Scotland under-20: K Buchan; D Hoyland, C Auld, M Bennett, R Hughes; T Allan, S, Hidalgo-Clyne; J Bhatti, R Anderson, P Cringle, J Gray, A Sinclair, T Spinks, W Bordill, A Ashe. Subs: C Black, S Muir, D. Rae, R Leishman, A Henderson, A Price, Alex Hagart, R. Fergusson.