Borders rugby players reshuffled again as Scots U20s face France

Shake-ups, reshuffles and rotations are continuing for the Borders players in Scotland’s Under-20 squad at the 2021 Six Nations championship in Wales.
By Ralph Mellon
Published 7th Jul 2021, 15:25 BST
Borders player Cammy Scott, the only Scottish name to make the scoresheet last week against Italy, is dropped for today's U20 Six Nations rugby match against France. in the background is assistant defence coach Ciaran Beattie of Selkirk (picture by Scottish Rugby).Borders player Cammy Scott, the only Scottish name to make the scoresheet last week against Italy, is dropped for today's U20 Six Nations rugby match against France. in the background is assistant defence coach Ciaran Beattie of Selkirk (picture by Scottish Rugby).
Borders player Cammy Scott, the only Scottish name to make the scoresheet last week against Italy, is dropped for today's U20 Six Nations rugby match against France. in the background is assistant defence coach Ciaran Beattie of Selkirk (picture by Scottish Rugby).

Several of the south-Scotland contingent find themselves back in our out of the squad, or on the replacements’ bench, as head coach Sean Lineen tries a different layout for this afternoon’s match against France.

The fourth round engagement in the tournament gets under way today (Wednesday) at Cardiff Arms Park with a 5pm kick-off, live on S4C Clic and YouTube.Following last week’s 43-3 thumping by Italy, Cammy Scott, of Southern Knights/Edinburgh Rugby who scored Scotland’s only points from a ruck penalty, is dropped from the line-up, while Southern Knights/Edinburgh Rugby’s Patrick Harrison is back at hooker for his second start of the tournament.

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Rhys Tait, also of Southern Knights, comes off the bench finally to make his first start of the Championship at openside flanker. Christian Townsend, son of ex-Gala ace and current Scottish senior head coach Gregor Townsend, is in the starting XV at fly half.

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Murray Redpath, younger brother of Cam and son of ex-Scotland scrum half Bryan, is relegated to the bench, where he’ll be seated with Ethan McVickar of Melrose Rugby, who is back in the squad at Scott’s expense.

Lineen said: “The performance against Italy last week was disappointing. We know from the England game that this squad can perform and compete better than that.“With selection this week, we’ve looked to give more opportunities to players who have shown what they can do in training.“We know France will bring a tough and physical battle to the pitch. We’ll look to win the breakdown at every opportunity, apply pressure and score some points.”

​Scotland U20 team: 15 Ollie Melville (Boroughmuir Bears/Glasgow Warriors), 14 Ross McKnight (Stirling County), 13 Thomas Glendinning (Glasgow Hawks), 12 Michael Gray (Boroughmuir Bears/Glasgow Warriors), 11 Finlay Callaghan (Ayrshire Bulls/Glasgow Warriors), 10 Christian Townsend (Ayrshire Bulls), 9 Euan Cunningham (Stirling County/Glasgow Warriors), 1 Tom Banatvala (Durham University), 2 Patrick Harrison (Southern Knights/Edinburgh Rugby), 3 Corey Bowker (Leeds Becket University), 4 Euan Ferrie (Glasgow Hawks), 5. Alex Samuel (Stirling County/ Glasgow Warriors; captain), 6 Archie Smeaton (Cambridge University), 8 Rory Jackson (Ayrshire Bulls/Glasgow Warriors), 7 Rhys Tait (Southern Knights).Replacements: 16 Duncan Hood (Heriot’s Rugby), 17 Michael Jones (Boroughmuir Bears), 18 George Breese (Stirling Wolves), 19 Max Williamson (Stirling County/Glasgow Warriors), 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow (Exeter University),21 Ben Muncaster (Watsonians Rugby/Edinburgh Rugby), 22 Murray Redpath (Newcastle University), 23.Ethan McVickar (Melrose Rugby), 24 Elliot Gourlay (Sale Sharks), 25 Adam Scott (GHA), 26 Alex Clayton (Bath University).

Related topics:Edinburgh RugbyScotland