Match Report: Italy U20 10-36 Scotland U20

Scores from Nairn Moncrieff, Joe Roberts, Henry Kesterton and Jake Dalziel, who was a standout even in a stellar team showing, plus late Rory McHaffie and Harvey Preston tries, sealed a bonus point victory to put the young Scots on the best possible footing for the championship ahead.

The game was less than a minute old when Italian wing Luca Rossi was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tip tackle on Henry Widdowson, an act that led almost instantly to the game’s opening try.

After Dalziel’s probing chip into the Italy 22, wing McHaffie chased down Pietro Cali to force a 5m scrum. From the first set piece of the evening, number 8 Rory Purvis picked from the base, fed Dalziel whose sumptuous cross-field kick was patiently finished by Moncrieff (0-5, 3 mins).

With a man advantage, Scotland couldn’t get enough territory to add to their lead and after butchering a chance in the right-hand corner, stand-off Roberto Fasti reduced arrears with a penalty after Scotland U20’s Alfie Blackett was adjudged to have intentionally blocked an opponent (3-5, 17 mins).

Scotland looked to have the edge at scrum time and gained a penalty from a collapse, but the line-out logistics went awry at the crucial moment with too many bodies milling around when the ball was thrown.

But their time came shortly after from a line-out maul that was executed with precision by skipper Joe Roberts, the hooker grabbing the headlines from an excellent pack effort. Hamish MacArthur converted with style (3-12, 28 mins).

The visitors were very much in the ascendancy, with Dalziel’s high spiralling kicks causing mayhem in Italian ranks and Ollie Blyth-Lafferty in particular making use of his considerable frame in one play to make light of numerous defenders.

Dalziel thought he had added a third after just about collecting his own chip and after a serious discussion between the match officiating group, referee Kevin Bralley went back on the apparent decision to award the try on account of the young Scottish stand-off’s marginal knock-on.

Scotland were not to be denied, though, and did get a third from a clever line-out play. Off the top of the set piece, MacArthur wrapped around and popped the ball inside to Henry Kesteron, the centre crashing over for his first international U20 try (3-17, 34 mins).

Moncrieff looked as if he might just wriggle his way to the line as the clock went red, only for a scramble defence to thwart him. Play was brought back for an earlier infringement but Dalziel’s attempted kick to touch went dead to signal the end of the opening 40.

Half-time: Italy U20 3-17 Scotland U20

There was no laurel resting for the young Scots after the resumption, keeping tight control of possession as they edged towards the Italian line from the off, although an attacking line-out went long when it looked for all the world that a bonus point try was on the cards.

That imminency looked to have manifested when Moncrieff ran on to another beauty of a grubber from the boot of Dalziel, but on replay, the ball was lost in the act of scoring.

And it was that man Dalziel in the thick of it once more, this time through a show-and-go break that opened up an opportunity for MacArthur. Although Italy again managed to prevent a fourth try concession, in the very next play Dalziel’s wand of a left foot clipped another grubber through and the stand-off collected to go over for Scotland’s bonus point try, with MacArthur converting from in front of the sticks (3-24, 48 mins).

After gamely halting another Scottish rolling maul close to their line, Italy sprung into life and almost scored their first try when Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi enjoyed a marauding run into the opposition 22, only for Callum Jessop to engineer a fine cover tackle.

Just shy of the hour mark, the home fans got their reward for vociferous backing when centre Daniele Coluzzi went over, with Roberto Fasti converting to keep all parties interested (10-24, 59 mins).

It was Scotland’s turn to soak up pressure as Italy sensed a route back into a two-try game, but as excellent as the Scots’ attack had been, their defence was equally impressive. Moncrieff was the pick of a very large bunch in that respect, and after the hosts realised that their efforts were in vain, two late tries put more gloss on an outstanding performance.

From a Dalziel spiral once more, Italy fumbled and from the middle of the pitch, McHaffie hared home to seal victory (10-31, 72 mins), before replacement Harvey Preston emerged from another energy-sapping rolling maul to add a sixth Scottish try and complete a first U20 Six Nations away win since 2020 (10-36, 76 mins).

Full-time: Italy U20 10-36 Scotland U20

Italy U20: Pietro Celi, Malik Faissal, Daniele Coluzzi, Riccardo Casarin (captain), Luca Rossi; Roberto Fasti, Alessandro Teodosio; Christian Brasini, Ettore Dinarte, Erik Meroi, Simone Fardin, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, Antony Italo Miranda, Antonio Bianchi, Davide Sette.

Replacements: Valerio Pelli, Giacomo Messori, Leonardo Tosi, Jaheim Noel Wilson, Marco Spreafichi, Nikolaj Varotto, Edoardo Vitale, Tommaso Roda.

Scotland U20: Henry Widdowson, Nairn Moncrieff, Campbell Waugh, Henry Kesterton, Rory McHaffie; Jake Dalziel, Hamish MacArthur; Oliver McKenna, Joe Roberts (captain), Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Christian Lindsay, Alfie Blackett, Sam Byrd, Jack Utterson, Rory Purvis.

Replacements: Jamie McAughtrie (for Roberts, 76 mins), Will Pearce (for McKenna, 50 mins), Jamie Stewart (for Blyth-Lafferty, 50 mins), Fin Ronnie (for Blackett, 54 mins), Harvey Preston (for Utterson, 63 mins), Oliver Finlayson-Russell (for Lindsay, 68 mins), Adam McKenzie (for MacArthur, 76 mins), Calum Jessop (for Kesterton, 35 mins).

Referee: Kevin Bralley (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Evan Urruzmendi, Damien Dauvissat (both FFR)
TMO: Julien Castaignede (FFR)

Player of the Match: Jake Dalziel