Scotland Beat France in Tight Game.

Scotland edged out France in a tough game at Cork Institute of Technology as they won their opening clash of the U18 Six Nations Festival by a narrow margin.

Scotland 10 France 8

U18 Six Nations Festival
Cork Institute Technology

After a tense first half with both sides were rock solid in defence, Scotland prop Craig Owenson crashed over right before the turnaround to give his side the advantage as Alex Blair added the extras.

It was just reward for Scotland who had pressed hard in search of a score in the opening forty minutes.
Blair knocked over a penalty after the break to push the lead out for the Scots but France were threatening in attack and looked dangerous with ball in hand.

Their efforts were rewarded when Kevin LeGuen crashed over and then Amany Geneste added a penalty to ensure a tense final quarter but Scotland held out to secure the win.

French coach Vincent Manta said his side didn’t take the chances they had in the game. "We didn’t have a lot of time together before this competition so it has been difficult to prepare. We had chances at times during the match but the players didn’t see them and we couldn’t convert them."

Scotland assistant coach Graham Marshall added: "We were pleased with our first half performance though we didn’t convert as many chances as we had. However we were disappointed with the second half because we made a lot of mistakes and let France right back into it.

Scorers France: Kevin LeGuen try, Amany Geneste pen

Scorers Scotland: Craig Owenson try, Alex Blair con, pen

Scotland:
Sam Hughes (Merchiston Castle School), Max Learmonth (Berwick), Michael Tait (Kelso Quins), Alec Dunbar (Annan), Jamie Harris (Merchiston Castle School), Alex Blair (Edinburgh Academy), Russell Weir (Merchiston Castle School), Craig Owenson (Musselburgh), Mungo Strachan (Fettes College), Andrew Fraser (York), Grant Gilchrist (Stirling County), Robert Harley (West of Scotland), ), Stuart McInally (George Watsons College) (captain), Ross Sutherland (Sandbach), Jason Hill (Stirling County)
Replacements:
Alex Black (for Weir 40), Luke Pettie (for Fraser 53), Michael Maltman (for Hill 61) Callum Connor (for GilChrist 66)

France:
Antoine Erbani (Agen), Gilles Arnaudies (Perpignan), Julien Petrod (Bourgoin), Adrien Alazard (Toulouse), Florent Brunet (Perpignan), Adrein Gach (Begles), Joris Archimbeau (Montpellier), David Tarroque (Toulouse), Anthony Maury (Montferrand), Mickael Ivaldi (Toulon) (captain), Kevin Legeun (Begles), Paul Oliver (Beziers), Victor Muret (Bourgoin), Sullivan Guyon (Orleans), Sebastian Mazet (Bourgoin).
Replacements:
Amaury Geneste (for Baldy 35), Adrien Gach (for Petrod 35), Kevin Leguen (for Ivaldi 35), Paul Oliver (for Muret 35), Hugo Chevalier (for Domec 55), Antony Maury (for Tarroque 58), Florent Brunet (for Mazet 60)

Referee: Stefano Pennè (Italy)