Wales U20 captain Harry Beddall gave his team one message in the post-match huddle at the end of their disappointing 27-12 defeat to Scotland - “stay tight and let’s rip into England next week.”
Two red cards in one game was an unenviable record for Beddall’s side to take away from Edinburgh as they failed to build on their back-to-back wins over Italy and Ireland.
Scrum half Logan Franklin picked up a 20-minute red card in the first half and then lock Tom Cottle picked up a full red 11 minutes later to reduce Wales to 13 men.
“We wanted to keep building on the momentum of the last two games, but our discipline wasn’t good enough. We lost a bit of composure,” admitted Beddall.
“When you are down to 13 men it’s hard, but we still created chances. We didn’t take them and ultimately that lack of discipline cost us. The first 15 minutes we were on top, but we struggled at the breakdown and that sapped our momentum.
“We are a group that works for each other, and we showed that in the second half, but we have to sharpen up on our discipline.
“Next week it is England at the Arms Park, which is a massive game. In the post-match huddle, I told the layers we have to stay tight, stick together and then rip into England.”
Head coach Richard Whiffin was both frustrated and disappointed at the way in which his side fell to defeat to allow the Scots to end an 11-match losing streak in the U20 Six Nations.
It was also their fifth win in eight home games against Wales in the championship, and a third in a row.
“The red cards are lightning bolts in the game and change the course of events. They are always tough to deal with but I thought we dealt with the changes reasonably well,” said Whiffin.
“We kept ourselves in the game, which was the challenge we talked about at half-time. At 70 minutes it was a two-score game and we had a penalty in front of the posts.
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“Those are the opportunities you have to take and we kicked the ball dead. It was tough from there and we have to learn from that.
“I’m disappointed but can’t fault the effort. Losing Harri Ford so early was a blow because he was testing them with our shape, even though we didn’t get the rewards off the back of that.
“To lose your No. 9 and No. 10 so early in a game put us under pressure. We still gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game, so that is where you can add frustration to disappointment.
“We moved the ball really well early on and there was some energetic ball movement. We really tested them, but the last pass didn’t work.
“Their captain and No 7, Fergus Thompson, was really good around the breakdown, although I’d challenge whether he was releasing or not a couple of times – he played the referee pretty well.
“We were still in the game at half time. We knew what we had to do, and the boys really fronted up.
“Eventually the wave of pressure became too much. Going down to 13 for such a long period of time challenges your resolve.
“But what better way to turn around our emotions and fortunes than to play England at home in our final game. The boys will certainly be up for that.
“We turn around pretty quickly and the boys will remain tight. We’ll lick our wounds and get back to Cardiff and prepare well for the game.”
