Borderers on scoresheet as Scotland under-20 rugby side prepare for trophy in Africa with warm-up win versus Spain

Hawick’s Corey Tait and Melrose’s Finn Douglas both got on the scoresheet for Scotland’s under-20 rugby team as they beat Spain 43-20 on Sunday in their last warm-up match ahead of next month’s World Rugby U20 Trophy in Kenya.
By Darin Hutson
Published 26th Jun 2023, 10:46 BST
Finn Douglas in action for Edinburgh during a pre-season friendly versus London Scottish at the DAM Health Stadium in the capital in September 2022 (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group/SRU)Finn Douglas in action for Edinburgh during a pre-season friendly versus London Scottish at the DAM Health Stadium in the capital in September 2022 (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group/SRU)
Finn Douglas in action for Edinburgh during a pre-season friendly versus London Scottish at the DAM Health Stadium in the capital in September 2022 (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group/SRU)

Boroughmuir Bears hooker Tait got the young Scots’ first try at the at the Ruta de la Plata Stadium in Zamora and Southern Knights winger Douglas touched down the second from last of the six that followed on 54 minutes.

Also on the scoresheet for head coach Kenny Murray’s side were ex-Knight and co-captain Ben Afshar at the double, Jonny Smith, co-skipper Liam McConnell and Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, with conversions added by Richie Simpson twice, Afshar and Andy McLean.

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Murray said: “It was a really important game for us to get preparation for the World Rugby U20 Trophy.

Ben Afshar in action for Scotland under-20s versus Wales at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow in February (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group/SRU)Ben Afshar in action for Scotland under-20s versus Wales at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow in February (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group/SRU)
Ben Afshar in action for Scotland under-20s versus Wales at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow in February (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group/SRU)

“I thought it was a rusty performance, which I expected as the guys haven’t played together very much over the last wee while, so we’ve got a lot of learning to do on understanding the consequences of international rugby as we move towards next month.”

The 49-year-old is expected to name the squad he’s taking to Nairobi this week.

Scotland will be in a pool with Zimbabwe, the USA and Uruguay at the eight-team African competition – starting on Saturday, July 15 – and Spain will be in the other with Kenya, Samoa and Hong Kong/China.

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Also in the Scots’ starting line-up in Spain were Dan King, Ben Salmon, Kerr Yule, Geordie Gwynn, Craig Davidson, Callum Norrie, Eddie Erskine, Jake Parkinson and Jonny Morris.

Douglas’s Knights team-mate Sam Derrick was among Sunday’s replacements.

Related topics:BorderersSpainScotlandKenyaMelroseAfrica