Scotland defeated by Italy in Melrose

Fergus Pringle led Scotland Under-19 who started brightly but were 21-10 down at half-time at the Greenyards. The Italians began the second-half with two early tries which knocked the stuffing out of the Scottish side and allowed Italy to run out comfortable winners.

Scotland started the match in Melrose on the front foot with Ross Wolfenden proving to be a commanding presence at fly-half.

After 11 minutes, Scotland made it 7-0 when prop, Ben White bundled over from yards out following an early spell of attack pressure. Fellow co-captain Wolfenden banged over the resulting conversion from out wide.

Italy responded positively with 19 minutes on the clock and levelled the scores through prop Gioele Boccato who bundled over with Riccardo Favaratto adding the extras.

Italian showed indiscipline 24 metres out 5 minutes later and Wolfenden confidently stepped up to regain Scotland’s lead to 10-7.

That didn’t last long though as Italy’s second foray into Scotland’s 22 earned a second try. Following a line-out, Italy spread the ball out wide well and Tommaso Roda touched down a converted try.

After 30 minutes Inza Dene was shown a yellow card for Italy.

Despite being a man down, Italy weathered pressure from Scotland and counter-attacked smartly with Antony Italo Miranda scoring out wide after breaking through, putting his side 21-10 up.

Half-time: Scotland U19 10-21 Italy U19

Italy started the second half in thunderous fashion with Gioele Boccato bundling over for his second try. Straight from the restart Christian Dotto raced down the flank following an intercept to score a converted try with Italy extending their lead to 33-10.

Italy were relentless and Luca Rossi then touched down 15 minutes into the second half with Faveretto banging over the conversion, moving Italy into a 40-10 lead.

Scotland responded with a Harry Provan try. The full-back picked the ball up on the 22-metre line, outmuscling an Italian defender before darting towards the line. Wolfenden added the extras narrowing the scoreline to 40-17.

Matteo Silei increased Italy’s lead when he took advantage of an intercept, darting down the line to score in the corner, making it 45-17.

In the dying embers of the game, Scotland touched down in the corner through Jamie Thomson but Italy were to have the final say when they scored late on to make it 52-22 thanks to a Christian Brasini try.

Full-time: Scotland U19 22-52 Italy U19

Next up Scotland will travel to Percy Park RFC, North Shields to face England on Saturday 26 April at 2pm.

Reaction: Scotland Under-19 head coach Fergus Pringle said: “We’re disappointed with the scoreline. We started the match well with a number of entries into their 22 but we weren’t clinical enough. On the flip side, when they entered our 22 they took their chances.

“At the start of the second half we gave them soft penalties which allowed them to gain momentum. If we can become more disciplined then the scoreline is a lot closer.

“It was a good exercise overall. There are players there that did well and will take a lot of learnings. This will help the guys in their development.

“Having a match like this allowed guys who didn’t play a lot in the Six Nations the opportunity for game time as well as giving the younger players international exposure as they look to break into the Scotland U20 squad.”

Scotland: 15. Harry Provan* (Glasgow Warriors), 14. Nairn Moncrieff* (Edinburgh Rugby), 13. Sam Leweni* (Edinburgh Rugby), 12. Alex Bryden* (Glasgow Warriors), 11. Jack Craig (GHA RFC), 10. Ross Wolfenden* – CO-CAPTAIN (Edinburgh Rugby), 9. Ben Curtis (GHA RFC), 1. Ben White – CO-CAPTAIN (Melrose RFC), 2. Jamie McAughtrie (Glasgow Academicals RFC/Ayr RFC), 3. Jamie Stewart* (Edinburgh Rugby), 4. Mac Rutherford* (Edinburgh Rugby), 5. Finn Ronnie (Strathallan School), 6. Rory Purvis* (Glasgow Warriors), 7. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (University of St Andrews), 8. Logan Gray (Stirling County)

Replacements: 16. Oliver McKenna* (Glasgow Warriors), 17. Will Pearce (Cardiff Metropolitan University/Bristol Bears), 18. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty* (Edinburgh Rugby), 19. Anthony McCormack (Hull RUFC/Bishop Burton University), 20. Sam Byrd (Rugby School/Leicester Tigers), 21. Hector Patterson* (Edinburgh Rugby), 22. Felix Champain (Worth School/Harlequins), 23. Jamie Thomson (University of St Andrews), 24. James Campbell (Glasgow Hawks), 25. Dylan Neill (Heriots RFC), 26. Zander Mactaggart (Merchiston Castle School), 27. Archie McMichael* (Glasgow Warriors), 28. Cameron Van Wyk (Ayr RFC), 29. Isaac Coates* (Edinburgh Rugby)

*Denotes Scottish Rugby Academy Player

Italy: 15. Christian Dotto, 14. Giorgio Matteo Noventa, 13. Daniele Coluzzi, 12. Riccardo Casarin, 11. Tommaso Roda, 10. Riccardo Favaretto, 9. Nikolaj Varotto, 1. Gioele Boccato, 2. Antonio Reina, 3. Erik Meroi, 4. Andrea Alessandro Tizzi, 5. Thomas Kurti, 6. Inza Dene, 7. Antony Italo Miranda (Captain), 8. Carlo Antonio Bianchi

Replacements: 16. Jacopo Filippo Pedol, 17. Arbian Gosa, 18. Christian Brasini, 19. Marco Spreafichi, 20. Ricardo Bucci, 21. Luca Rossi, 22. Alessandro Teodosio, 23. Samuele Palmero, 24. Lorenzo Salmaso, 25. Nicola Noselli, 26. Matteo Silei, 27. Sebastiano, 28. Thomas Del Sureto

Attendance: 888