Scotland Under-20s hooker Corey Tait has promised that complacency will not be an issue when they take on the USA at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday afternoon (kick-off noon), because they know that their performance against Zimbabwe last Saturday was nowhere near as polished as the final 64-33 score-line suggests.
The young Scots top their Junior World Trophy pool after that bonus point victory in round one, while the USA are looking to bounce back after suffering a 33-31 defeat to Uruguay in their opening match.
Scotland must not only win their pool but also triumph in the tourn-ament final against either Spain, Samoa, Kenya or Hong Kong next Sunday to gain promotion back to the top tier Junior World Championship next year.
It is vital that they do so as competing in the top global age-grade competition is an essential part of any country’s elite player development pathway.
“It was a really good feeling for us to get a comprehensive win in our first match while also seeing so much room for improvement going into this next game,” said Tait. “It is mainly about making sure we put in that 80-minute performance.
“We did really well against Zimbabwe for the first hour and maybe just took our eye of the ball in the last quarter which let them back into the game. So we know we need to be a lot better.
“The conditions were maybe a factor, but we’ve worked really hard before the tournament, and another week out here getting used to the heat and the altitude means that we’ll be really well organised and raring to go.”
Tait came off the bench to score one of Scotland’s 10 tries against Zimbabwe and has been promoted to the starting team for this game in place of Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, who has flown home with an injured thumb.
Winger Geordie Gwynn, who scored a hat-trick against Zimbabwe, has also dropped out of the squad with a facial injury. Kerr Johnston and Archie Falconer have flown out to join the group.
