Scotland lost to Ireland in round two of the Men’s U18s 6N Festival in Vichy. Image: Six Nations Rugby 
AFTER their heavy loss to England last Thursday, Scotland restored pride this [Monday] by posting an encouraging, but ultimately losing, performance against Ireland in the second round of the Six Nations mens U18 Festival at Le Stade Darragon in Vichy.
The Scots looked to be very much in the game in the first half which concluded with the scores level at 14-14 but an error-strewn third quarter saw Ireland pull away with three converted tries. In truth, though, it was the power of the Irish forwards and the strength of their bench, coupled with a very dubious sin-binning, which forced Scotland onto the defensive and which eventually translated into tries.
Scotland, however, can, and should, take much from their first half performance in which which they went toe to toe with the Ireland forwards and in which they showed clever handling skills behind the scrum that led to two impressive tries. That the Scotland forwards were able to compete with what was a powerful Ireland pack was a big plus in itself while some of the running from the backline verged on the inspirational, both aspects of the Scots’ game representing a big step forward from their opening showing against England.
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Individually, scrum-half Gregor Johnston again impressed, full-back David Barrie, unfortunate to be yellow carded for a dubiously dangerous attempt to compete for the ball in the air, had key involvement in what was arguably the best score of the match, a try by Johnston. Amongst the forwards, Christian Lindsay led from the front, Daniel Casserly put in a big shift, and Jack Utterson, aside from accurate line-out input, was lively about the park.
Head coach Ross Miller suggested that the first half showing by his charges was the pick-me-up his squad needed. “We gained a lot of self belief from that first half,” he said. “I thought a lot of our defensive sets were very good.
“Physically, Ireland were very good in the contact area. The big difference in the second half was their kicking game. They managed the game much better when conditions became wetter. They’re a good side – they beat England in a warm-up game prior to this festival.
“Overall, the guys are pleased with their first half performance. The second half kind of got away from us. We committed a few unforced errors in the second half but I was pleased with scoring a good try right at the end of the game,” concluded Miller.
Scotland’s attacking mindset produced an early reward when, after two sharp backline movements, the Scots were able to attack the Ireland line from close range. After Lindsay’s surge was stopped, flanker Harvey Preston secured the ball before plunging over for the game’s opening try, converted by stand-off Ben MacDougall.
The Scots then gave away a needless penalty from which Ireland, after driving at their opponents line, released the ball for wing James Browne to dot down, Luke Coffey levelling the scores with his successful conversion kick.
Scotland, however, responded in style, moving the ball wide for Barrie to create room for Luca Mathieson to race towards the Ireland line, before the Merchiston Castle School player passed inside to Johnston for the scrum-half to claim an impressive try, converted again by MacDougall.
Ireland again struck back with a second try by Browne after a storming run by fellow winger Geoff O’Sullivan, the conversion by Coffey again levelling the scores at 14-14.
Then, just before half-time, Barrie was arguably wrongly carded while challenging in the air for the ball, and in the event his absence at the beginning of the second period proved costly as Ireland, exploiting that gap at full-back with clever kicking, struck with two tries in quick succession by their powerhouse tight-head prop Harry Goslin and equally strongly built hooker Lee Fitzpatrick, Coffee adding the extras to the first of this double blow.
Browne was then awarded a try in the corner to complete a hat-trick, despite appearing to be clearly in touch.
Ireland were pulling away and threatening a massive score, that notion amplified when replacement Jonathan Ginnety dotted down the Irish side’s six try, this time converted by replacement Paul Neary.
Happily for dark blue morale, Scotland had the final say in the matter of scoring with a try by the Cranleigh School replacement, Joe Taylor, with fellow-sub Henry Widdowson adding the conversion points to give the Scots’ scoreline a brighter sheen than the early stage of the second half might have suggested.
Teams –
Ireland: A Henson; G O’Sullivan, B Colbert, B White, J Browne; C O’Connor, L Coffey; J Gould, L Fitzpatrick, H Goslin J Walsh, L Anicm J Ginnety, G Wall, B Moore. Subs used: N Noble, B Guerin, J Bohan, A Boyd, J Rodgers, C McVicker, P Neary, R Kelly, F Rowsome, F Maher.
Scotland : D Barrie (R McHaffie 57); L Mathieson (, W Corbett, H Clark, B McDonald; B MacDougall (H Widdowson 55), G Johnston (C Trayler 50); L Hendrie (M Morrison 60), J Utterson, O Anderson (J Rennie 40), W Lockhart (D Shellard 55), C Lindsay, H Jackaman, H Preston, D Casserly (L Moncrieff 60).
Referee: P Tchiqaberidze (Georgia)
Scorers –
Ireland: Tries: Browne 3, Goslin, Fitzpatrick, Ginnety; Cons: Coffey 3, Neary.
Scotland: Tries Preston, Johnston, Taylor; Cons: MacDougall 2, Widdowson.
Scoring Sequence (Ireland first): 0-5; 0-7; 5-7; 7-7; 7-12; 7-14; 12-14; 14-14 (h-t) 19-14; 21-14; 26-14; 31-14; 36-14; 38-14; 38-19; 38-21.
Yellow cards –
Ireland: Boyd (54 mins)
Scotland: Barrie (34 mins)
Talking point: This was a welcome improvement from Scotland but ultimately against an Ireland squad that packed power and which had useful depth on the bench the Scots fell short. In what we have come to see as the strength of Ireland rugby, three of the Irish second half tries were scored close to the Scotland line in the manner of Leinster or Munster. But at other times, Scotland were able to defend against heavy close range pounding.
Scotland now face Spain on Friday in the third and final round of the Festival, buoyed by a performance that should have convinced the squad that they can compete at this level. Spain, however, showed that quality, too, holding England in the first half of their match against the men in white and giving France a run for their Euros in the opening round.
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