The Scotland under-20 squad want to put Friday’s defeat to Wales in the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series to the back of their minds quickly as they aim to finish the tournament with a flourish against Ireland on Thursday.
The Scots took confidence from parts of their play against England in the 31-17 opening loss into their second match against the hosts at Ystrad Mynach’s Centre for Sporting Excellence, but the Welsh were too strong.
Wales led 28-8 at half-time and it finished 52-29 to them in the end as they scored eight tries to Scotland’s four with some strong forward play and some nice backs moves.
Scotland did have some good moments and replacement Freya MacColl bagged two tries, but the 80-minute performance was not quite there.
The other tries in defeat came from stand-off Ceidith Ainsworth and full-back Poppy Mellanby with centre Lucy MacRae kicking the rest of the points.
Scotland head coach Louise Dalgliesh said: “We had a really positive start and points on the board early [through a penalty], but then unfortunately Wales scored four tries by the 20th minute and they ultimately came from when we were in possession.
“We had to look after the ball better when we had it during that period and we were disappointed with how quickly they escalated their score.
“That came from our own errors and it gave us a really difficult situation going into the last 60 minutes of the game [being 28-3 down after the first quarter].
“When you take that first 20 minutes away we actually outscored them 26-24 for the last 60 minutes so we showed how competitive we can be when we get our detail right and when we execute, but we gave ourselves too big of a job to do.
“I think a lot of lessons have been learnt from the game in terms of mentality and mindset. The heat did challenge us and making decisions under pressure was difficult, but all of the players have learned a lot from that and we will take that into what will be another really challenging fixture against Ireland.
“For that game we will be looking to freshen the squad up a little bit. We’ll make some changes and hopefully be better prepared and we’re really looking for that ability to bounce back.
“We want to start the next game in a much better, more positive way to then give ourselves an opportunity to stay competitive through the fixture.”
Scotland face Ireland on Thursday (1pm) before heading home.
Supporters will be able to follow every moment of the action from the Summer Series as all matches will be streamed live on the Six Nations under-20 YouTube channel and the Scottish Rugby website.
Scotland under-20 squad that played in the Wales game
Poppy Mellanby; Emily Norval, Nicole Flynn (C), Lucy MacRae, Lisa Brown; Ceitidh Ainsworth, Rianna Darroch; Poppy Fletcher (V-C), Aicha Sutcliffe, Eilidh Fleming, Charlotte Russell, Aisha Zameer, Merryn Gunderson, Isobel Twigger, Emily Coubrough. Subs: Megan Hyland, Kaylee McHugh, Megan Riach, Holly Wilson, Lily Crisp, Emily Love, Holly McIntyre, Freya MacColl.
Scorers: Tries: Ceitidh Ainsworth, Freya MacColl (2), Poppy Mellanby. Conversions: Lucy MacRae 3. Penalty: Lucy MacRae.
Scotland’s under-20 squad for the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series
Forwards: Emily Coubrough, Karis Craig, Lily Crisp, Eilidh Fleming, Poppy Fletcher, Merryn Gunderson, Megan Hyland, Kaylee McHugh, Sophie Price, Megan Riach, Charlotte Russell, Aicha Sutcliffe, Faye Sutherland, Louise Taperell, Gemma Thomson, Isobel Twigger, Holly Wilson, Aisha Zameer.
Backs: Ceitidh Ainsworth, Lisa Brown, Rianna Darroch, Rebekah Douglas, Nicole Flynn, Scarlett Haddow, Emily Love, Freya MacColl, Lucy MacRae, Holly McIntyre, Poppy Mellanby, Emily Norval.
Tickets for Scotland-England at Murrayfield in April 2026 can be purchased here.
Scotland are pictured playing versus Wales
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