England Counties Under-20 15-18 Scotland Under-20

Scotland under-20 secured a morale-boosting 18-15 win over England Counties under-20 on Friday night in a warm-up match before the IRB Junior World Championship in Italy next month. Tries from full-back Stuart Hogg and centre Danny Gilmour, who were today both named in Peter Wright’s squad for the summer tournament, saw the Scots emerge victorious from a close-run affair in Leeds. Scotland under-20 secured a morale-boosting 18-15 win over England Counties under-20 on Friday night in a warm-up match before the IRB Junior World Championship in Italy next month. Tries from full-back Stuart Hogg and centre Danny Gilmour, who were today both named in Peter Wright’s squad for the summer tournament, saw the Scots emerge victorious from a close-run affair in Leeds. An early Stuart Edwards penalty gave the visitors the perfect start, and although England Counties crossed for a try, Gilmour soon cancelled it out with a score of his own before Hogg landed a penalty to help secure an 11-8 half-time lead for the Scots. Their hosts struck back with a second try following the restart, but a Hogg touchdown and conversion saw Wright’s young charges home. The Scotland under-20 head coach said: “There were a lot of good things in our game tonight, and we’re happy to have got the win as a boost before heading over to Italy. “We played with a lot of purpose and precision, showing the level of ability we have in the backline and also digging in well when we needed to in the second half. “Danny Gilmour and Stuart Hogg both deserve praise not just for their tries but for their performance in general. Danny showed a lot of power, led the line well in attack and defence, and got in behind the opposition on a number of occasions. “Stuart always looked dangerous, kicked well and gave the players around him confidence. “Up front, the likes of Mitchell Todd and Robert McAlpine set a really good example with the way the tackled and carried the ball. Against very physical opposition, they battled all night and made sure we took the fight to them. Jamie Swanson at blindside was also a really positive influence on that front. “All in all, it was a very pleasing evening and sets us up well for the big challenges ahead.” SCOTLAND UNDER-20 SQUAD FOR WARM-UP GAME AGAINST ENGLAND COUNTIES UNDER-20 AT WEST PARK LEEDS RFC, KICK-OFF 7.30PM 15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors/Hawick) 14 Glenn Bryce (Heriot’s)13 Sam Atkin (Edinburgh Accies)12 Danny Gilmour (Stirling County)11 Kerr Gossman (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks) 10 Stuart Edwards (Stirling County)9 Sean Kennedy (Stirling County) 1 Alex Allan (Loughborough University)2 Richard Ferguson (Melrose)3 Colin Phillips (Edinburgh/Stewart’s Melville)4 Mitchell Todd (Nottingham)5 Robert McAlpine (West of Scotland)6 Jamie Swanson (Boroughmuir)7 Grant Runciman (Melrose)8 James Tyas (Bath) SUBSTITUTES 16 Michael Lyness (Edinburgh Accies)17 George Hunter (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks)18 Robin Hislop (Edinburgh/Boroughmuir)19 Mitch Eadie (Filton College)20 Alex Spence (Heriot’s)21 Andrew Redmayne (Dundee HSFP)22 Bruce Colvin (Melrose)23 Craig Jackson (Melrose)24 Jamie Clark (Sheffield Tigers)25 Harry Mountain (Team Northumbria)26 Jamie Forbes (Watsonians)