Second place for Scotland at the U18 Home Nations

They started the day with pool matches against all three teams. Their first match was against Ireland where Emma Orr scored with Meryl Smith converting, but Ireland stayed strong though and won 24-7.

It was a closer second match against Wales with scores from Orr again as well as Smith. Wales kept their lead of one try though and the final score was 17-12 to Wales.

The final match of Day 1 was against England. Two scores for Scotland from Smith and captain Katie McLaren, both duly converted by Smith set the team up well. England powered through to a 25-14 win.

Scotland finished the day ranked 4^th and faced top ranked team Ireland in the opening match of Day 2.

A couple of early tries against Ireland from Smith and Orr gave them the confidence and the boost they needed to take them into the final with a second try from Smith and a winning score of 19-14.

England played well in the final with Scotland just achieving one score from Cieron Bell leaving the final score at 38-7.

Head Coach Graeme Blackhall said, “Day 1 was a frustrating day for us all. We felt the score lines didn’t reflect the effort and ability of the group. We reflected and looked at the positives from all three games, the players took confidence seeing how close we were to clicking in many areas when reviewing the footage.

“We started very strongly with two quick tries against Ireland on Day 2, that instantly settled us and then from there we showed a hunger and togetherness to seal the win.

“Although the final game against England didn’t go to plan, the squad should walk away in a good place going into our first ever Rugby Europe competition in a couple weeks. The players have learnt a lot about themselves and the level expected of them when competing in an International tournament.”

Captain Katie McLaren said, “Day 1 was tough, we did some really positive things against Ireland but unfortunately that wasn’t carried into our next game with Wales. We were hungry to prove a point against England in our third game with an early try in the first half but unfortunately, we ran out of steam.

“Day 2 we knew we had to prove ourselves as a squad and as individuals. Beating Ireland in game one of Day 2 allowed us to prove we aren’t always going to be the underdogs, we proved the point that we were hungry for the win.

“Reflecting over the whole tournament I believe each player stepped up, with everyone playing a key role in what was a good first tournament for us.”

The squad will have one more training day ahead of their first European competition at the end of August. They will be heading to Poland to compete in the Rugby Europe 7s U18 Girls Championship.