Scotland under-18 lose out to England

Scotland under-18 lost 39-15 to England under-18 at Bridgehaugh on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Five Nations tournament which begins later this month. The warm-up match against England produced impressive performances from across the squad despite Scotland facing defeat come the final whistle.Scotland secured the first try of the game before England responded with two scores of their own to lead at half-time.The visitors maintained possession after the break while also controlling the game through the set-piece to build the platform for a further three tries, with Scotland touching down twice in the second-half.Scotland under-18 Head Coach, Ally Donaldson, said: “We are disappointed with the scoreline but there were a lot of positives to be taken from the game.It was a really good learning experience for the squad and come the next game against Wales, we will be all the better for it.”Scotland dominated the early exchanges but it was England who secured the first points on the scoreboard, stand-off James Grayson proving his ability with the boot after converting a penalty opportunity in the fifth minute.Ben Appleson came close to crossing the line for Scotland minutes later but a double movement in the left corner prevented the try from being awarded. Appleson remained positive and come the 16th minute, he sealed Scotland’s first try of the game, the team moving the ball along the line to find the winger in position down the left wing.England responded through some effective work at the line-out which lead to a strong driving maul, Tom Curry gathering from the back to power over the whitewash before Grayson added the extras after 20 minutes played.Curry was involved once again for England when the ball was moved wide, his offload providing the space for centre Jacob Umaga to burst through and score, with Grayson converting to settle the scores at 17-5 come half-time.After the interval, England continued to impress and secured their third try courtesy of a strong line from Sam Yawayawa who jinked his way past the defence to score under the posts before Umaga converted.Both teams made several changes in the pack and across the backline with 20 minutes left on the clock, as Scotland utilised fresh legs to maintain possession.Scotland’s second try came in the 52nd minute, centre Cameron Hutchison spinning the ball out wide to full-back Stafford Mc Dowall who located Rory McMichael on the right wing for the run in.England took advantage of a penalty opportunity minutes later with Umaga extending his team’s lead. Aaron Chapman then found space down the left for the visitor’s fourth try and Umaga added the extras.Scotland continued to battle against an English side who were dominating the set-piece and come the 67th minute, clever link play between the backs resulted in replacement Harry Warr crossing in the left corner after an impressive sprint finish.England had the final say with Chapman adding his second try in the same position as his first to bring the final score to 39-15 in favour of the visitors. Man-of-the-match: Cameron HutchisonReferee: Adam Jones The Teams…Scotland under-18: Stafford Mc Dowall; Rory McMichael, Cameron Hutchison, Mark New, Ben Appleson; Grant Hughes, Charles Gowling; Ross Dunbar, Robbie Smith, Calum Eastwood, Dean Roger, Andrew Horne, Matt Fagerson CAPTAIN, Daniel Marek. Replacements: Paul Cairncross, Connor Clark, Euan McLaren, Archie Erskine, Jack Bruce, Fergus Haig, Harry Warr, Cameron Redpath, Ben Eynon, Fraser Strachan, Fraser Dingwall. England under-18: Tom Parton; Sam Yawayawa, Gabriel Ibitoye CAPTAIN, Jacob Umaga, Levi Davis; James Grayson, Rory Brand; Alex Seville, Henry Walker, Joseph Morris, Josh Williams, Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Dino Lamb-Cona. Replacements: Beck Cutting, Jarod Leat, Ehren Painter, Sam Lewis, Ben Curry, Ben White, Oli Morris, Aaron Chapman.