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A strong crowd at Cardinal Stadium were treated to an entertaining though one-sided match on Monday evening. The Memorial Day fixture saw Scotland’s under-20 side dominate hosts Old Glory DC by a score of 70-7. It was a friendly arranged following the investment by Scottish Rugby in the Major League Rugby expansion side.
Despite the age disparity the Scottish pack did not concede size or strength in the scrum. In terms of speed and skill the differences were stark, with the well-drilled Scots scoring at will against a willing but heavily outgunned defense.
The skills of the visitors became immediately apparent with a cheeky grubber kick into the corner from Ross Thompson to left winger Jack Blain producing a try just five minutes in. A second score came almost immediately following a long counter-attack from the restart. Scotland were in from the scrum with captain Connor Boyle crashing over.
Old Glory got on the board next. An attacking lineout set the platform, with Josh Brown taking it over the gainline in the midfield. The ball came back to the left where Mo Katz made a half break, with a hard-charging Dante Lopresti on hand to take it the last couple meters.
Unfortunately for DC that would be their last say on the scoreboard. Scotland scored three more tries before the intermission. Tom Marshall scored first from a rolling maul, and then at the back of a pushover try. Callum Renwick broke away from the back of a maul to score in the stroke of halftime.
An early charge-down in the second half handed a try to Jack Hill. Old Glory would hold out for 15 minutes following, but a yellow card for cynical play left the team shorthanded and the Scots capitalized with two quick tries from Will Hurd and Ollie Smith. Lomond McPherson and Matt Davidson added late scores to close out the match.
The Scots will be thankful for the workout as they continue south to Argentina to contest the World Rugby u20 Championship that begins in a week’s time. Next up for Old Glory is another home match against the USA South Panthers on Saturday.
SCORING
DC 7
Tries – D. Lopresti (12′)
Cons – J. Stapleton 1/1 (13′)
Yellow cards – J. Sage (57′)
SCOTLAND 70
Tries – J. Blain (5′), C. Boyle (9′), T. Marshall 2 (19′, 25′), C. Renwick (40′), J. Hill (43′), W. Hurd (58′), O. Smith (62′), L. McPherson (75′), M. Davidson (80′)
Cons – R. Thompson 6/6 (6′, 10′, 20′, 26′, 40′, 44′), N. Chamberlain 4/4 (59′, 63′, 76′, 80′)
TEAMS
OLD GLORY DC
1 Khalid Williams, 2 Mo Katz, 3 Dante Lopresti, 4 Ayemere Oiyemhonlan, 5 Tyler Barberi, 6 Dacoda Worth, 7 Guy Lopresti, 8 Josh Brown (capt.), 9 Sean Hartig, 10 John Stapleton, 11 Vetekina Malafu, 12 Chris Kunkel, 13 Zack Forro, 14 John Sage, 15 Nick Kuhl
Replacements: 16 Cullen Barelka, 17 Chase Jollie, 18 Sam Morris, 19 Mason McIlwee, 20 Ryan Smith, 21 Mike Fletcher, 22 Michael Reid, 23 Tevita Maitavuki, 24 Darien Pickett, 25 Blake Carroll, 26 Pita Moala
SCOTLAND u20
1 Murphy Walker, 2 Callum Renwick, 3 Euan McLaren, 4 Ewan Johnson, 5 Cameron Henderson, 6 Jack Hill, 7 Connor Boyle (capt.), 8 Tom Marshall, 9 Roan Frostwick, 10 Ross Thompson, 11 Rory McMichael, 12 Grant Hughes, 13 Cameron Anderson, 14 Jack Blain, 15 Matt Davidson
Replacements: 16 Mak Wilson, 17 Andrew Nimmo, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Ross Bundy, 20 Marshall Sykes, 21 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 22 Murray Scott, 24 Robbie McCallum, 24 Nathan Chamberlain, 25 Lomond McPherson, 26 Ollie Smith
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Lex Weiner (USAR)
Attendance: 2,296
