The former British Lion is keeping faith with the bulk of the side and providing a second chance to show what they can do on the international stage, despite suffering a heavy defeat to England last Friday at Firhill Stadium in Glasgow. (59-3).
He said: “We’re obviously disappointed after last weekend’s defeat to England, but we want to stay consistent. We don’t see fit to make whole sale changes.
“The players have had another week together in training and are continuing to gel well. We know the strengths they have and we want to give them another chance to show what they can do at this level.”
Robbie Fergusson will take up his position in the centre having recovered from a hip injury received last week in training. Michael Crawley moves back to his preferred position on the wing and Tom Steven drops to the bench.
In the forwards, George Turner replaces the injured Fergus Scott and Jamie Bhatti steps in for last weekend’s captain, Robin Hislop, who returns to his club, Edinburgh Rugby. Stand-off Harry Leonard will now wear the captain’s armband.
On the bench, hooker Russell Anderson, prop Gavin Robertson and scrum-half Matthew Torrance come in for their first chance to get a taste of under-20 international rugby.
Wright continued: “Wales are a very physical team and uncompromising up front. This is complemented by backs who know how to attack space. We have picked a team who will face that challenge head on, deny the backs space to run the ball and manipulate them to play our game plan.”
Scotland Under 20
15 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Scotland 7s / Heriot’s)
14 Jamie Farndale (Edinburgh Rugby / Edinburgh Accies)
13 Robbie Fergusson (Ayr)
12 Tommaso Allan (Western Province)
11 Michael Crawley (Boroughmuir)
10 Harry Leonard (Edinburgh Rugby) (captain)
9 Scott Steele (Leicester Tigers)
1 Jamie Bhatti (Stirling County)
2 George Turner (Edinburgh Rugby / Stewart’s Melville)
3 Alex Allan (Loughborough Students)
4 Adam Sinclair (Stirling County
5 Jonny Gray (Hamilton)
6 Mitch Eadie (Bristol Rugby)
7 Will Bordill (Sale Sharks)
8 Jamie Swanson (Boroughmuir)
Replacements
16 Russell Anderson (Gala)
17 Gavin Robertson (Dundee HSFP)
18 Andrew Redmayne (Dundee HSFP)
19 Callum Reid (Edinburgh Accies)
20 Struan Cessford (Heriot’s)
21 Finn Russell (Falkirk)
22 Matthew Torrance (Ospreys)
23 Tom Steven (Glasgow Hawks)
