Head Coach Kenny Murray has named his Scotland U20 Men side for the World Rugby U20 Championship opener against England U20 at Payanini Center on Sunday (kick off 2.30pm BST/3.30pm local) – live on RugbyPassTV.
Johnny Ventisei will captain the side. His fellow co-captain for the championship, Freddy Douglas, misses out as he recovers from a concussion sustained in training.
University of St Andrews student Oliver Finlayson-Russell could make his Scotland U20 debut if called upon from the bench.
Jack Hocking could make his first competitive appearance for 267 days due to injury after being selected on the bench.
Loosehead prop Jake Shearer is joined by Joe Roberts at hooker and tighthead prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty to make up the front row.
Bart Godsell and Dan Halkon make up the second row, and blindside flanker Charlie Moss, openside Oliver Duncan and number 8 Reuben Logan are the back row selections.
In the backs, Noah Cowan starts at scrum-half and will combine with stand-off Matthew Urwin to make the half-backs.
Kerr Yule and Johnny Ventisei continue their consistent centre partnership at inside and outside respectively. Fergus Watson is selected on the left wing with Nairn Moncrieff on the right, and the team is completed by Jack Brown at full-back.
A 6-2 split on the bench sees Seb Stephen, Oliver McKenna and Jamie Stewart primed to come in the front row, with Dylan Cockburn, Mark Fyffe and Oliver Finlayson-Russell the other replacement forwards.
Backs Hector Patterson and Jack Hocking are the final substitutes.
Murray said: “We’ve had two full days of training out in Italy now and the boys are starting to acclimatise to the heat. It’s been over 30 degrees when we’ve been training, but we visited the environmental chambers at the University of West of Scotland before we came over and that was good preparation for us.
“We saw in the U20 Six Nations how good this England side can be, and we know we need to compete for longer than we did that day.
“This is exactly where we want to be, competing in the U20 Championship against the best teams at this level, and we want to put in a performance on Sunday that shows what we can do against a very high standard of opponent.”
Scotland U20 Men team to play England U20 at Payanini Center, Verona on Sunday (kick off 2.30pm BST/3.30pm local) – live on RugbyPassTV
15. Jack Brown (Edinburgh Rugby)
14. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby)
13. Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow Warriors)
12. Kerr Yule (Glasgow Warriors)
11. Fergus Watson (Glasgow Warriors)
10. Matthew Urwin (Glasgow Warriors
9. Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders)
1. Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors)
2. Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors)
3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby)
4. Bart Godsell (Loughborough University)
5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors)
6. Charlie Moss (Montpellier)
7. Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh Rugby)
8. Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints)
Replacements
16. Seb Stephen (Glasgow Warriors)
17. Oliver McKenna (Glasgow Warriors)
18. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby)
19. Dylan Cockburn (Melrose RFC)
20. Mark Fyffe (University of Edinburgh)
21. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (University of St Andrews)
22. Hector Patterson (Edinburgh Rugby)
23. Jack Hocking (Edinburgh Rugby)
Black Fantastic
Sport Trivia: Apart from a team event bronze medal in 1992, Ghana won three other individual Olympic medals in the 20th century. These were all in the same event. Which event was this? Answer: Boxing. Ghanaian boxers won silver in Rome in 1960, bronze in Tokyo in 1964, and Munich in 1972.
Springheel Jack
Sport Trivia: Who was the first SA cricketer to take a hat trick in Test cricket? Answer: Geoff Griffin in the second test match against England at Lords in June 1960 — he dismissed Mike Smith, caught by the wicket-keeper, then bowled Peter Walker and Freddy Trueman. England went on to win the game by an innings and 73 runs. He never played another test match after that, due to his continually being called no-ball for alleged throwing.