Scotland’s never-say-die attitude was key to long-awaited win over Ireland. Image: World Rugby 
KENNY MURRAY says Scotland have “justified” their place in the Junior World Championships after defeating Ireland 22-21 for their first win in the tournament in seven years.
After a gruelling pool stage, the young Scots will now face Georgia in the 9th-10th place final, a game Murray believes the side will need to deliver a step-up in performance in if they are going to win, despite his pride in the character the team has shown in recent weeks.
An expansion of the competition next year means that the bottom team will not be relegated this year, but Murray has made it clear that the challenge facing his team was to avoid that 12th place finish regardless of whether it has a material impact going forward.
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“One of our goals was to stay in the tournament and justify our position here, finishing outside those relegation places. So I’m really pleased that we are in that 9th-10th position,” said Murray. “Of course we want to be higher up the ladder, but we’ve earned the right to stay in this competition. I take my hat off to the boys for that.
“When you’re not winning games, your self-belief drops a little bit but I thought the players really dug in, never gave up and found a way to win in that last play. I’m really pleased for the boys.”
Going into the final game of the competition, Murray believes the game had positives on which the players can build, whilst also stressing the parts that needed work.
“I thought we scored some good tries and looked sharp when we got the ball,” he said. “Our set-piece was generally pretty strong. There were a few guys starting to tire towards the second half but we were pretty solid in our scrum in particular. Defensively we looked good structurally.
“We just needed a wee bit more pressure in the breakdown. I felt our second man in the collision didn’t have enough impact so that is one thing we’ll work on.”
Having been through intense heat, a group of death, illness and a fair few injuries, Murray praised the mental strength his players have shown in the past few weeks which will stand them in good stead in their careers to come.
“We’ve come through a tough group one I think the boys have shown real resilience, it says a lot about them as players and all the staff that have supported the players during the tournament.
“The guys all want to be pro players and they want to play for their country at the top level. If you want to do that, you need to be able to cope and play against teams at this level.
“There’s a lot of learning from the competition for everybody, staff and players. A big thing for me is that they’re going to be better from taking part in this tournament. They’ll learn a huge amount about themselves and the places they can take themselves to,” he said.
“The weather’s put them in dark places at times and playing so many games in 20 days is unusual for them. I’m really pleased with how they’ve adapted to that.”
Scotland’s improvements over recent years can be pinned, in part, on their increasing depth and
competition for places, with substitute and match winner Jake Shearer just one example.
“We write a sub-strategy for every game, who we’re bringing on and when we’re bringing them on. It could change depending on injuries but we know exactly who we’re bringing on,” explained Murray. “Today we were able to bring on guys like Joe Roberts, Joe is a really good player so that gives you a real strength when he comes on.”
“Same with guys like Jed Findlay. He’s another good, strong player.”
As they look forward to Georgia in just five days’ time, Murray was pleased to come through the Irish encounter relatively unscathed.
“We picked up a few bumps and bruises but hopefully nothing major in terms of injury,” he said.
“Prior to beating Spain, Georgia had lost to Ireland and New Zealand before drawing with hosts Italy.
World Rugby U20 Championship: Scotland clinch dramatic win over Ireland at the death