Preview: Emerging Scotland v Italy Under-23s

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 10: Conor McAlpine during an Emerging Scotland training session at the Oriam, on December 10, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Emerging Scotland v Italy Under-23s tickets

What they said

Forwards Coach John Dalziel said: “We’ve had U18, U19 and Emerging Scotland all together this week, so it’s great for Scottish rugby to see all the talent all in one place training against each other. It’s been outstanding.

“As a national coach, you can see the depth that we have and sometimes it’s just about an opportunity for players.

“You can see in the players the excitement to wear a Scotland jersey, whatever level that is. They’ve definitely felt that excitement this week.”

The team

Fresh from making his Edinburgh debut at the weekend against Gloucester Liam McConnell will lead out Emerging Scotland/

Joining Liam in the forwards are Mikey Jones and Harri Morris who were both involved in Scotland A’s recent win over Chile.

Edinburgh Rugby duo Euan McVie and Robert Carmichael will start in the second row. Carmichael toured with the Scotland national team to Chile and Uruguay in the summer and backed it up by making his first appearance for Edinburgh in their Challenge Cup defeat against Gloucester.

In the back row, McConnell will work alongside fellow former Under-20s captain Rhys Tait who has moved south to play for Doncaster Knights. Brother of Scotland cap Matt Currie, Tom, starts at number eight.

Ollie Smith will start at full-back making his long-awaited return from a knee injury sustained a year ago for Glasgow against Bayonne. The full-back played at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, making his debut for Scotland in 2022, against Argentina.

At half-back, Edinburgh Rugby duo Connor McAlpine and Cammy Scott will start.
In the centre Scotland Under 20s regular Kerr Yule will partner Ben Salmon who has been a stand-out for Glasgow Warriors A.

Ealing Trailfinder Geordie Gwynn, who scored two tries in Scotland U20s’ Trophy final against USA, will start on the wing. Kerr Johnston, who began his rugby journey at Gala, has had experience training with the Scotland national team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and will start on the opposite wing.

12 players are named on the bench as an opportunity for more players to experience game-time at this level. Vannes number 8 Rudi Brown, who scored 3 tries in 4 matches for Scotland U20 during the 2023 U20 Six Nations, will be looking to make an impact from the bench.

Still eligible to play for Scotland Under-20s in next year’s Six Nations, Dan Halkon, Nairn Moncreiff and Matthew Urwin are all selected.

The stats

• Ollie Smith will play his first game of rugby for 364 days, making his return from an injury suffered for Glasgow Warriors against Bayonne in December 2023.
• Liam McConnell becomes the first ever Emerging Scotland captain, leading his country in a match for the fourth consecutive season. The flanker was Scotland U20 captain for two seasons, and Scotland U18 captain before that.
• Nine members of the squad (O. Blyth-Lafferty, McVie, McConnell, Currie, McAlpine, Gwynn, Yule, J. Blyth-Lafferty and Thomson) featured in Scotland U20’s 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy final win over USA U20 in July.