Scots ready to face forwards battle head on

Scotland head coach Carl Hogg believes his pack of forwards has what it takes to fight fire with fire against Georgia on Wednesday in the crucial Pool C match at the World under-20 Championship.

Like the Scots, Georgia have lost two matches from two so far in Argentina.

The result in Rosario will determine where both sides play in the knock-out stages next week and Hogg knows the pack will have to stand up and be counted.

 “There is a lot of similarities between South Africa and Georgia. The Georgians maybe don’t have the same firepower behind the pack, but we’re expecting a very much forward-orientated battle,” Hogg said.

“We’ve got to play the game at our pace and on our terms. We want to play with pace, at high-tempo, keep the ball in hand and put pressure on their front five.

“People have probably got a perception about Georgia, but I’ve watched their last two games and they’ve got a big, big physical forward pack.

“It’s going to be a real challenge for us.

“Their stand-off is a very tidy little kicker out of hand. The full-back has got some pace, a real threat, and has a big left boot on him. There is talent out there [in the backs], but their strength does lie in their forward pack.

“We’ve just got to make sure we play in the right areas and don’t give them starting points to impose  their game.”

Scotland squad:

15 Matt Davidson (London Scottish)

14 Rory McMichael (Heriot’s)

13 Cameron Anderson (Wasps)

12 Grant Hughes (Stirling County)

11 Jack Blain (Heriot’s)

10 Ross Thompson (Glasgow Hawks)

9 Roan Frostwick (Currie Chieftains)

1 Murphy Walker (Stirling County)

2 Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks)

3 Euan McLaren (Ayr)

4 Ewan Johnson (Racing 92)

5 Cameron Henderson (Stirling County)

6 Marshall Sykes (Ayr)

7 Connor Boyle (Watsonians, C)

8 Tom Marshall (Newcastle Falcons)

Subs:

16 Rory Jackson (Edinburgh Academy)

17 Andrew Nimmo (Glasgow Hawks)

18 Will Hurd (Cardiff Metropolitan University)

19 Mak Wilson (Melrose)

20 Ross Bundy (Stirling County)

21 Jack Hill (Durham University)

22 Kwagga van Niekerk (Lions)

23 Murray Scott (Watsonians)

24 Teddy Leatherbarrow (Sale Sharks)

25 Nathan Chamberlain (Bristol Bears)

26 Robbie McCallum (Complutense Cisneros)

27 Ollie Smith (Ayr)

28 Lomond MacPherson (Watsonians)

Scotland v Georgia takes place in Pool C of the under-20 World Championship at 10.30am local time (2.30pm UK time) on Wednesday, June 12 – the match will be streamed live on world.rugby/u20

Thanks to World Rugby for the photo