U19 EUROPEAN CUP: POOL A - ROUND 2

There was not much of an Auld Alliance this afternoon, when France stormed the Scottish defence for their opening fixture of this inaugural European U19s Championship. They scored three tries in the first 10 minutes, thanks to De Martini, man of the match Kane Bentley, Khattabi, and ran away with the score for a 36-0 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Scots finally found their way around the hosts’ uncompromising defensive line, with Thornton scoring in the corner. But France hit back with two late tries by substitues Delgal and Maurel. France faces Wales on Sunday in a decider for the first place in their Group.

FRANCE Andrei Olari, Kevin Liguoro, Nicolas De Martini, Thomas Barrau, Cédric Barnagaud, Amar Sabri, Aurélien Besset, Ismaël Khattabi, Kane Bentley, Mohammed Jamil, Vincent Duport, Florian Quintilla, Jean-Philippe Baile (capt.). Subs: Thibault Ancely, Adrien Maurel, Jacques Rives, Nicolas Delgal

SCOTLAND
Gary Thornton, Greg Wallace, Alisdair Carvers, Rob Sloman, Jack Burns, Ross Bryan, Karl Beardshaw, Wayne Rafferty, Scott Porteous, Che Smith, Chris Lyle, Tommy McColl, Paul Walker. Subs: Matthew McNee, Ben Parker, David Valentine, Martyn Lowe