Scotland on the march for New Zealand

 In readiness for their participation at the IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand next month, Scotland’s under-20 squad took time away from the training ground to build on their off-field preparations. Billeted with 2 SCOTS at their Glencorse barracks just outside Penicuik, the players undertook physical challenges, an assault course and a sleepless night ‘in the field’ on manoeuvres with the aim of building team spirit and guile. Watch some of their exploits here – plus interviews with team manager David Edge and 2 SCOTS. After emerging from the experience captain Tommy Spinks said: It was tough but when you’re doing it as a team you pull each other through. We were split into groups based on body shape and height. I think some of the guys were a bit weary, some of the heavier guys who may not be quite so agile. All in all it was a really important few days for us as a team to get to know each other and bond through a tough experience. You can take differences messages from a military camp or any sort of pre-season weekend and it was important for us to be able to come out the other end as a team with no one dropping out. We have some very resilient guys and it’s about how we can focus that energy into driving and pulling each other through game situations. The team now have two preparation matches in quick succession, taking on Ireland at Murrayfield on Sunday (11 May, kick-off 11.30am, back pitch 3) then travelling to Wales three days later. The young Scots had a challenging 6 Nations – opening against Ireland and closing the championship against Wales – and Spinks is under no illusions that the players have to up their game in these fixtures. We’ve got a point to prove – we went over there [Ireland] with a lot of guys new to international rugby and didn’t perform as well as we could have. It was a tough lesson. We respect the Irish but we definitely don’t fear them and that has to be something we take into every game we play.  Scotland under-20 squad for IRB Junior World Cup Magnus Bradbury (Boroughmuir/Edinburgh Rugby) ** Lewis Carmichael (Melrose) * Ben Chalmers (Melrose) Gabriel Carroll (Loughborough University)Jack Cosgrove (Worcester Warriors) Andrew Cramond (Aberdeen Grammar) Philip Cringle (Edinburgh Accies/Edinburgh Rugby) ** Chris Dean (Edinburgh Accies/Scotland 7s) Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Hawks) Jamie Farndale (Edinburgh Accies/Edinburgh Rugby) Cameron Fenton (Strathallan School/Howe of Fife) Alex Glashan (Edinburgh Accies/Scotland 7s) Neil Herron (Glasgow Hawks/Scotland 7s) Damien Hoyland (Melrose) * Rory Hutchison (Northampton Saints) Blair Hutchinson (Loughborough University/Melrose) Neil Irvine-Hess (Edinburgh Rugby) ** Sam James (London Wasps) Gavin Lowe (Glasgow Hawks/Glasgow Warriors) ** James Malcolm (Ayr) * Gavin Parker (Exeter University) Sam Pecqueur (Edinburgh Accies) D’arcy Rae (Ayr/Glasgow Warriors) ** Jamie Ritchie (Strathallan School/Howe of Fife) * Tommy Spinks (London Scottish) (captain) Ben Vellacott (Hartpury/Gloucester) Glen Young (Newcastle Falcons) Ruairidh Young (Edinburgh Accies) * member of Scottish Rugby’s Regional Academy supported by sportscotland Institute of Sport **Elite Development Player 2013/14 The IRB Junior World Cup 2014 will be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Scotland’s pool games are against South Africa (Monday 2 June, k/o 3.35pm local); Samoa (Friday 6 June, k/o 3.35pm local); and New Zealand (Wednesday 10 June, k/o 7.35pm local). Further fixtures on Sunday 15 June and Friday 20 June are dependent on results. Last year, Scotland finished in 10th place in the tournament.