Scotland have named their U20 side to face France on Friday as they aim to bounce back from last week’s defeat to Wales.
Kicking off at 7.35pm at Broadwood Stadium, Scotland are aiming to recover after a 36-3 defeat last week, while France won a thriller against Ireland, steered by star outside half, Romain Ntamack.
Head Coach Stevie Scott has made three changes to that side that lost to Wales, all of them coming in the backline. Former Leicester Tiger Sam Yawayawa drops from the starting side to the bench, with Stirling County’s Logan Trotter coming in on the right wing.
There is an all new half back pairing, with Gloucester’s Charlie Chapman starting at scrum half and Glasgow Hawks’ Ross Thompson starting at outside half.
Last week’s stand off, Callum McLelland move to inside centre, with vice-captain Stafford McDowall moving to outside centre. Kyle Rowe keeps his place on the left wing, with Scotland’s only point scorer last week, Paddy Dewhirst, again at full back.
The pack is unchanged, with Robbie Smith captaining the side from hooker, and Edinburgh Accies pair Shaun Gunn and Finlay Richardson packing down either side of him. Racing 92’s Ewan Johnson and Watsonians are the second row combination, with former Uppingham star Archie Erskine again at blindside, Northampton Saints’ former Stowe man Devante Onojaife at 8, and Guy Graham once again at openside.
Much of the bench is again unchanged, with Ealing Trailfinders Bradley Clements, Golden Lions’ Nathan McBeth, and Dundee High School FP’s Murphy Walker again covering the front row.
Hartpury College’s Harry Butler again covers the second row, with Rory Darge covering the back row. Charlie Chapman’s promotion sees Kaleem Barreto covering 9, while with two fly halves on the pitch there is no stand off cover on the bench, Rory McMichael, the former Wellington College pupil, covers the centres, with Sam Yawayawa covering the back 3.
Speaking ahead of the game, Scotland U20 Head Coach Stevie Scott said:
“The squad have worked hard this week and they’re looking forward to testing themselves against a strong French outfit at Broadwood on Friday night. We made mistakes against Wales and there are things we need to work on ahead of this weekend. If we get these things fixed then we can go into the weekend with a bit of confidence again.”
Scotland U20 XV v France U20 – Friday, 7.35pm kick off, Broadwood Stadium
15 Paddy Dewhirst (Ayr), 14 Logan Trotter (Stirling County), 13 Stafford McDowall (Ayr, vc), 12 Callum McLelland (Edinburgh Rugby), 11 Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Hawks), 10 Ross Thompson (Glasgow Hawks), 9 Charlie Chapman (Gloucester), 1 Shaun Gunn (Edinburgh Accies), 2 Robbie Smith (Ayr, captain), 3 Finlay Richardson (Edinburgh Accies), 4 Ewan Johnson (Racing 92), 5 Jamie Hodgson (Watsonains), 6 Archie Erskine (Boroughmuir), 7 Guy Graham (Hawick), 8 Devante Onojaife (Northampton Saints).
Replacements: 16 Bradley Clements (Ealing), 17 Nathan McBeth (Lions), 18 Murphy Walker (Dundee HSFP), 19 Harry Butler (Hartpury College), 20 Rory Darge (Melrose), 21 Kaleem Barreto (Marr), 22 Rory McMichael (Glasgow Hawks), 23 Sam Yawayawa (Glasgow Hawks).
