Scotland under-16 selected for Wellington

Following a successful camp at Tulliallan, the Scotland under-16 management team have selected 26 players to face Wales, England South and France at the 2013 Wellington Festival.For the second successive season Scotland have entered an younger, U16, team in the festival, with Scottish Rugby’s head of player development, Stephen Gemmell, highlighting the benefits.”Put simply it’s about us trying to benchmark our players much earlier and make like for like comparisons against, for example, England, France and Wales, who involve their under-16 squads in the Festival, explained Gemmell.Gemmell continued: “By identifying players at an earlier age we can look at a five year programme of taking our most talented players through to under-20 level with appropriate support across coaching and conditioning.”This also enables us to free up time during under-17, which is a vital year academically, where players are looking to get their Highers at the first sitting.Scotland U16 squad: Lyall Archer (Highland), Craig Cowan, (Jedburgh GS / Jedburgh), Fergus Bradbury (Oban HS / Oban Lorne), Andrew Davidson (Kelvinside Academy / Glasgow Hawks), Scott Cummings (Kelvinside Academy), Lewis Wynne (St Mungos HS / Stirling County), Angus Neilson (Glasgow Academy / Glasgow Hawks), Zach Mercer (Williamwood HS/GHA), Dan Nutton (Merchiston Castle School), Adam Hastings (George Watsons College), Jacob Adamson (Dollar Academy), Cameron Gray (Balerno HS/Currie), Sam Trowbridge (Wellington College), Luke Taylor (Edinburgh Academy / Musselburgh), Saul Melvin-Farr (Edinburgh Academy / Currie), Adam Nicol (Queen Ann HS/Dunfermline), Jack Solman (Kelvinside Academy/Glasgow Hawks), Ross  Gordon (Stewart Melville College), Lee Scott (Dumfries), Calum Harris (Bell Baxter HS / Dundee Eagles), Scott McGinley (Currie HS / Currie), Henry Sampson (Dundee HS / Dundee Eagles), Robbie Nairn (Currie HS / Currie), Charlie Lonergan (St Aloysius College / GHA), Josh Henderson (Strathallan School / Howe of Fife), Bruce Sorbie (Robert Gordons School).•    HS (High School)•    GS (Grammar School)Friday 22 to Sunday 24 March – training camp at Tulliallan Police CollegeSunday 24 March – preparation game v Newcastle Falcons, Murrayfield (kick-off 2pm) BMW Wellington International FestivalMonday 1 April – Scotland U16 v Wales U16 (kick-off 11am)Wednesday 3 April – Scotland U16 v England South U16 (kick-off 2.30pm)Friday 5 April – Scotland U16 v France U16 (kick-off 10.30am)Coaching team:Gary Mercer (head coach)Roddy Deans (assistant coach)Jamie Dempsey (assistant coach)