Winning start for U20’s at Eirias

It was the first of three home games for Kirby Myhill’s side in north Wales and the fans turned out in force as they filled Eirias to overflowing with a near 6,000 capacity crowd watching the stars of the future.

After withstanding a spirited Scottish opening, that saw skipper Harry Leonard miss with two kickable penalties, Wales settled into a good rhythm in which the outstanding openside Dan Thomas was calling the tune.

The rising Llanelli and Scarlets star was outstanding in the loose, stealing ball after ball on the floor, and was in the frontline of a water-tight Welsh defensive effort that saw them frustrate the Scots as they ran in three tries and built-up a 28-3 lead in 62 minutes.

It looked to be the perfect platform for Kirby Myhill’s side to launch a major offensive in the final quarter, but it never materialised in the face of a major Scottish fight back that saw their 17-year-old right wing Jamie Farndale score two corner tries.

That enabled the visitors, for who it was a ninth successive Six Nations Under 20 defeat, to cut the deficit from 25 to 13 points in the wake of their nine try, 59-3 home drubbing by England a week earlier.

The WRU experiment of taking their three home Under 20 fixtures to Colwyn Bay worked a treat on opening night as a packed house turned out to get a rare sight of international rugby in north Wales and everyone was happy when the home side were 18-3 ahead at the break.

Davies’ cultured left boot got Wales off the mark with a ninth minute penalty and then his kick deep into the Scottish 22 gave Cory Allen and Thomas something to chase, Allen challenged the covering Michael Crawley as he gathered close to his line and Thomas helped Wales regain possession. Then it was just a case of two long passes before full back Ross Jones crossed.

The 18-year-old Ospreys outside half Davies, whose father Nigel Davies, the former Wales centre and current Scarlets coach, was watching from the stands, couldn’t convert that one, but his prodigious boot accounted for two conversions and three penalties in the end and his general kicking game caused no end of problems for the visitors.

Leonard made it third time lucky with his boot to get Scotland’s only first-half points from 30 metres, but Wales worked Morgan away for his first try before the break and Davies’ conversion made it 18-3.

A third Davies penalty kept the scoreboard moving for Wales in the second half before the outside half put Morgan through a tiny gap on the edge of the Scottish 22 to allow the Bridgend wing to brush off three would-be tacklers before crossing at the posts. Davies converted and it looked like being a tough final 20 minutes for Leonard and co.

But Farndale provided a sting in the tail, and hope for the future, as he pounced for his two tries to make the scoreline far more respectable than it might have been.

Scorers: Tries: J Farndale 2; Con: H Leonard; Pen: H Leonard