Borderers help Scotland’s under-20s equal best finish ever at a World Rugby Junior Championship

That was their fourth win of the Georgian tournament – accompanied by a bonus point-earning 36-26 pool loss to New Zealand on Thursday, July 2 – and it secured head coach Fergus Pringle’s side a fifth-placed finish. matching their only prior top-five placing nine years ago, also in Georgia, with current Scotland seniors forwards coach John Dalziel, father of Jake, in charge.

Melrose’s Dalziel junior, Kelso’s Utterson and Peebles’ McHaffie were accompanied for the first 63 minutes of Friday’s fifth-place play-off, until he made way for Ewan Caven, by Gala’s Nairn Moncrieff, the only other Borderer left in ex-Hawick lock Pringle’s squad following the injury-enforced withdrawal of another ex-Pee, Ross Wolfenden.

Newcastle Red Bulls’ Dalziel, 17, was playing at fly-half at Tbilisi’s Avchala Stadium alongside openside flanker Utterson, full-back McHaffie and left-winger Moncrieff, all 19 and teammates in United Rugby Championship outfit Edinburgh’s academy.

Scotland’s try-scorers as they edged out the Welsh, despite being left two men short for the game’s last few minutes by yellow cards for Caven and fellow replacement Matthew Fick, were tighthead prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, outside-centre Henry Kesterton, captain and hooker Joe Roberts and right-winger Daniel Kelly, with Dalziel following up all four of those scores with conversions.

Touching down tries for Wales were Will Evans, Jac Pritchard and Lewis Edwards, with Carwyn Leggatt-Jones adding two conversions and Lloyd Lucas another.

Pringle afterwards told of his pride at his side’s performances in Georgia, including beating Argentina 44-26 the Sunday before, Japan 43-32 on Tuesday, July 7, and Italy 38-32 on Saturday, June 27.

“I’m really proud of the boys,” said the South African 48-year-old.

“What stood out in that game was just the character in those last few minutes.

“I haven’t thought too much about finishing fifth but I’m super-proud of how the boys just stuck in there when we were up against it in the last part of the game.

“That says a lot about the group and the character and just how tight they are.

“What it shows for me is that this is a development programme and they’re learning. The thing that they’ve learnt is what it takes to win a game and learning how to win.

“Even when things aren’t going perfectly for us or we’re under a bit of pressure or things go against us, the guys have really learnt and understood what big momentum swing looks like in games and how you have to respond to certain things that you can’t control.

“I just think that the guys have matured a lot on the field and that’s so important because this programme is about development. It’s about helping them get better and grow as players.

“It’s been clear for me that they’ve really learnt how to win, how to compete in all different kinds of situations on the pitch, and we definitely wouldn’t have done that a few months ago. For me, I can clearly see that progress.”

Scotland’s seniors’ head coach, Gregor Townsend, was also impressed by how his country’s youngsters got on in Georgia, adding: “They look like a team.

“Credit goes to Fergus – I think he’s done a brilliant job.

“It’s just been great to see the individual players too coming through. Speaking as a Borderer, it’s been great to see Borders players in the team.

“It’s probably been a while since you saw five or six Borderers in the team.

“You’ve got players from all over Scotland that show that you can get that pathway and come through and perform at that level.

“There are some real quality players in that squad. I would hope or expect there are going to be three, four, five, even probably more, coming through this year’s under-20s in the next few years.”