The Scotland men’s senior team may be off on their Americas Tour, but the under-20 squad have important matches coming up closer to home starting this coming week.
And, while they will be taking part in the eight-team World Rugby Trophy at The Hive in Edinburgh between Tuesday and July 17, the under-20 women’s squad will be at the Six Nations Summer Series in Italy which runs from Thursday until July 14.
It ais a big period for both age-grade squads.
The men simply have to come out on top and get promoted to the top tier Championship event having missed out last year with just the winners going up.
And members of the women’s squad will be looking to give Scotland senior head coach Bryan Easson some positive selection headaches ahead of WXV 2 later this year.
What the captains say…
Liam McConnell turned 20 on June 24 and the Edinburgh Rugby back-row would love nothing better than to be lifting the World Rugby Trophy silverware come July 17 as a late present.
He has been in this set up since he was 17 and was part of the squad that lost to Uruguay in Kenya last year.
“We want to put a marker down and we are excited about the couple of weeks ahead,” the Boroughmuir product said.
Liam McConnell, Scotland under-20 captain (Image: SNS)
“We have learnt a lot of lessons since last year’s tournament and the guys are more experienced now so we want to win this competition.
“We know what we are capable of and we want to get on the front foot in games and I think playing in front of family and friends will give us a big lift.”
The tour co-captains for the women’s trip to Italy are loosehead prop Poppy Fletcher and back three player Hannah Walker.
Fletcher, who came through the ranks at Dunbar and now plays for the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Rugby with Walker, said: “My flatmate is Alex Stewart so to see her playing in the Six Nations was surreal, but so exciting.
Poppy Fletcher in action for Edinburgh during the Celtic Challenge (Image: SNS)
“What she has done is shown us all that young players can break into the full Scotland squad and we want to use this competition to show what we can do.”
Fletcher’s co-captain Walker, a 19-year-old Community School of Auchterarder product, added: “We are all really excited ahead of this challenge.
“A lot of us have known each other for a few years now and played in the under-18s two years ago and then the Futures last year so we feel like we have grown up as a group and we cannot wait to play on this stage now.”
What the coaches say…
Kenny Murray, the men’s head coach, said: “We want to go and win this tournament.
“Our aim is to get back to the top level of under-20 rugby. We want the boys to thrive under pressure and really grasp this opportunity to show people what they are all about.”
Claire Cruikshank, the women’s head coach, said: “We feel this is a really competitive squad with some good talent in it.
“I think the gap between this group and the senior Scotland squad is closing and I want the players to go out there, put in strong showings and put themselves in the conversation ahead of WXV 2."
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