After two years since their last victory in the competition, Scotland’s age grade head coach Kenny Murray says he is “proud of the performance” as his side came away 27-12 winners against Wales, following defeats to Italy, Ireland and England.
“It’s always a tough old campaign when you’re not winning games,” he said.
“You’re always really pushing to get that win for the boys. But the boys, more importantly, put a lot of effort and a lot of energy into playing a high-level rugby.”
“It gives the boys a smile on their face as well.”
As the visitors counted the cost of two red cards and a litany of penalties conceded, Murray was pleased with his players who were “well disciplined” to pave the way for an impressive victory.
Despite the eventual 15 point margin and numerical advantage for large parts of the game, Murray was acutely aware of the threat his opposition presented on the night as Wales pulled to score back to 19-12.
“We played in the right areas a couple of times, but we made skill errors. And at this level, if you make skills errors against teams like that, who have got an outstanding transition game. Their transition game, I reckon, is the best in the Six Nations.”
Although they came out of the break with two more players than their opponents, Scotland struggled in the opening exchanges.
“We spoke about starting well in the second-half”, said Murray, “but in ten minutes, we never took advantage of possession. We never got any points there and then we allowed them to get back in.”
However the coach was impressed by his side’s grit helped by a hint of good fortune. “We dug our way into it”, said Murray, “I thought we found a way and we got a wee bit of luck to be honest with you. They kick the ball dead towards the end and if that doesn’t go dead and their drive was good, who knows?”
“So, yeah, we’ll take a bit of luck.” the coach remarked before adding “We don’t get a lot of that at under 20 level.”
With a win under their belt, the side now face a daunting trip to France, who were triumphant in a 22-12 victory in Ireland.
“It’ll be a big crowd,” said Murray, “they’re crazy about their rugby,” but noted that “the pressure’s all on France.”
“People expect France to win, so we’ll go out there and play our last game in the Six Nations and go and enjoy ourselves and give it our best shot.”
