Scotland captain Liam McConnell praised his team for a professional job as they lifted the World Rugby U20 Trophy – and gave him a new career highlight.
For McConnell, victories in the Scotland jersey have been hard to come by over the past two years, but he will leave the under-20s set-up back in the top World Rugby competition for the first time since 2019 after the win over USA.
He was delighted with the way his side went about their job, not just against the Americans, but throughout the tournament.
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“There were a couple of tough games, the first two [triple-figure wins against Samoa and Hong Kong China] were comfortable, but then Japan were a good side and we came through that.
“Then against the USA we knew they would be up for it which they were, but we managed the game pretty well.”
McConnell knows the importance of Scotland making it back to the World Championship next year.
“We always thought that we should be up there, it just didn’t go our way last year, but we knew that we were a tier one side and we had to show that by winning here.
“We spoke all tournament about showing that we were a tier one side and we wanted to put in good performances and dominate at this level.
“Our mindset going into it was that we are the top team, we have a lot of guys here who are professionals and in the Edinburgh and Glasgow set ups and other good set ups and we had to take advantage of that strength.
“We had a strong squad, but we had to show that.”
As he prepares to step away from the under-20s programme, McConnell said he hopes he’ll leave it in a better place than when he earned the first of his 20 age-grade caps.
“It has been a tough few years at times, a lot of stuff hasn’t gone our way, but now I am just so happy.
“Everyone has grown, not just me, but everyone, I can see it in other boys and something really clicked this campaign.
“It is probably top of my experiences in rugby so far. I said to the boys in the lead up that if we won this it would be right up there with my best rugby memories and it is.”
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Euan McVie played down his achievements in the final.
“Right place, right time, I reckon,” was the lock’s verdict on his treble, two of which came in a late flurry of scores from the young Scots.
“A couple of pick-and-goes, then a pre-planned move. I don’t think I was doing anything special - I was just doing what I do.”
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