{"id":219102,"date":"2025-06-27T16:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/219102\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T16:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:59:10","slug":"reigning-champions-england-will-not-underestimate-improved-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/219102\/","title":{"rendered":"Reigning champions England will not underestimate improved Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EnglandEngland under-20s dominated Scotland in the Six Nations earlier this year. Image: Scottish Rugby. <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

HAVING convincingly beaten the Scots 57-13 the last time the two sides met in February, England head coach Mark Maplecroft was full of praise for Scotland in the build-up to their under-20s World Cup clash on Sunday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you saw towards the end of the Six Nations that they were improving, although Wales were down to 13 or 14 players at one stage. But I thought their performance in France was good and their performance against Ireland in the warm-up games was good as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d have done an analysis on them and through the first two games of the Six Nations prior to playing them.<\/p>\n

Scotland under-20s suffer World Cup blow with Freddy Douglas ruled out of England opener<\/a><\/p>\n

Lions v Western Force: Five Scots in squad for first match in Australia<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018The longer he stays, the better for us\u2019\u00a0 Glasgow\u2019s Ollie Smith on Franco Smith<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst 20 minutes actually were quite tight and then we managed to put our foot down and pull away in that second half. But it was tight for a while. So they\u2019re no mugs and yes they conceded a few, but they scored a few and I think they\u2019ve got a good platform to play from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, captain Tom Burrow<\/strong> and soon to be teammate of Reuben Logan<\/strong> at the Sale Sharks is acutely aware of the dangers the underdogs possess.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ll pose a different test to the one we faced in the Six Nations. We\u2019re expecting a properly physical and mental 80-minute battle. Look, their maul and drive game is very strong from a forward\u2019s perspective,\u201d said Burrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be physical and they\u2019ll try and impose themselves and we have to stand up in front of that. We\u2019re expecting big ball carriers who are going to come and make dents in us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Offside Line, Tom\u2019s opposing captain Johnny Ventisei,<\/strong> was relishing the prospect of facing rivals England after missing their last encounter and the ensuing rounds of the Six Nations with injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting. We\u2019re playing the former champions in the first game who are also our biggest rivals. I think we\u2019ll hopefully be able to give a better account of ourselves in the last game and show the progress we\u2019ve made in that period of time. It\u2019s definitely very exciting to start the campaign off against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a period he described as the most \u201ctoughest part of his career\u201d, Ventisei spoke of his delight at being able to return to the age-grade fold, captaining solo at the weekend as Freddy Douglas<\/strong> misses out with concussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be back with all the boys here in Italy, I\u2019m over the moon, so I can\u2019t wait for it. As a group we\u2019re really close and I think that will help us on the pitch. We\u2019ve obviously got to focus on the fact that this is not a holiday. We\u2019re here to play these matches and hopefully win these matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comfortable surroundings have been made all the less stressful for head coach Kenny Murray<\/strong> by the news that there will be no relegation in this year\u2019s edition, with the competition potentially set to include 16 teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably takes a bit of pressure off in terms of having nothing to worry about relegation and getting to game 4 and 5, so, not a lot changes, though we still want to perform well and win our games.\u201d<\/p>\n

However that will not detract from the immense difficulties they face in a group featuring England, Australia and South Africa. \u201cWe obviously won\u2019t be taking any of those games lightly. England will be flying, they\u2019ll be looking to try and win the competition again, no doubt. The England game was probably our worst performance of the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we gave a good account of ourselves in that game and nothing really went for us, so we want to go out there on Sunday and have a much better performance and have a real crack at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Skyscanner Pacific Tour: the best has yet to come for Andy Onyeama-Christie<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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