A much improved Scotland U20s side earned their first win of their Six Nations campaign, defeating a Welsh side hampered by indiscipline in a bonus-point 27-12 victory at the Hive Stadium.
With the rain trickling down, both sides saw their handling hindered and struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
That was until captain Freddy Douglas thundered over the line after bundling Evan Minto a metre out and scoring to break the deadlock before Mathew Urwin added the extras.
Attempting to add a score of their own, Wales made the task all the more complicated as Logan Franklin’s croc-roll saw the Dragons scrum-half land on Nairn Moncrieff’s leg and see red.
Scotland made full use of the man advantage, Moncrieff popping up again to cap off a ball worked through the hands to dot down for the hosts to bring the score up to 12-0.
Refusing to be put away, Wales rallied with prop Ioan Emanuel picking a gap in the hosts’ defence to pull one back in the 31st minute as substitute fly-half Harri Ford converted.
Just three minutes later a poor line-out throw from the visitors a few metres out allowed Scotland to steal possession and apply the pressure. Powered by an advantage they turned the screw as Urwin landed his cross-field kick on a dime for Moncrieff, who still had plenty to do to offload to Jack Brown who touched down for Scotland’s third with Urwin stretching the score to 19-7.
Wales would be the architects of their own downfall as indiscipline bit, reduced to 13 after Tom Cottle was adjudged to have made contact with scrum-half Noah Cowan’s head after the Scot had cleared the ball, the second-rower receiving a twenty minute red for his lapse in judgement.
Despite being a man down, Wales looked the dominant side in the opening stages of the second half and hauled themselves back into the game as hooker Harry Thomas punished his opposite number’s over-extended thrown five metres out, intercepting the ball and diving over the line to bring the score to 19-12.
A lack of kicking early on played into Scotland’s hands on the night, a surprising tactical occurrence given the amount of dropped balls in the first-half.
Yet Kenny Murray’s side sensed the tiring red legs before them, drained by the work done to cover for missing teammates. Making the most of a capacious back-field as Isaac Coates sent ball to boot and put Wales under pressure.
Scotland made the most of their entry into the Welsh half, taking advantage of another penalty from the travelling contingent to allow substitute fly-half Coates to score the first penalty of the evening and give his side a ten point lead with 15 minutes to go.
Momentum firmly on their side in the closing stages, Scotland knew they would rue not going for a fourth try that would bring a bonus point. A kick into the corner gave the driving maul the platform they needed to see Edinburgh’s Douglas score his second of the night and take the scoreline to 27-12 as Coates could not convert.
The final whistle marked an impressive win for a Scotland side coming off the back of a difficult 57-13 defeat to England against a Welsh team having not long since beaten Ireland.
An all-important bonus point win ahead of a stern test against France next week, the players have shown an impressive resilience in the face of a difficult opening to the tournament, in no small part thanks to the return of leader Freddy Douglas, whose two tries were the cherry on top of an excellent all-round performance.
Scotland U20s: Brown, Moncrieff, Hunter, Yule, Watson, Urwin, Cowan; McKenna, Roberts, Blyth-Lafferty, Moss, Halton, Duncan, Douglas (c), Logan
Replacements: Stephen, Shearer, Stewart, Godsell, Fyffe, MacArthur, Coates, van Wyk
Wales U20s: Woods, Boshoff, Roberts, S. Emanuel, Bowen, Wilde, Franklin; I. Emanuel, Thomas, Scott, Jenkins, Cottle, Gemine, Beddall (c), Minto
Replacements: Wood, Trivet, O. James, Evans, C. James, Davies, Ford, E. Evans
