Edinburgh prop to cap breakthrough season by leading Scotland at club where it all began
Blyth-Lafferty will captain Scotland Under-20 against Ireland at Meggetland this weekend.
Edinburgh rugby prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty is set to cap off what has been a breakthrough season in the capital by captaining Scotland under 20s for the first time.
The 20-year-old has been named skipper for the youth team’s friendly match against Ireland which will take place at Meggetland, the home of Boroughmuir Rugby Club. That makes it an extra special occasion for the tight-head as he returns to the club where his career began from a young age.
The match kicks off at 3:30pm on Saturday, June 6 and will be one of two warm up contests as Fergus Pringle’s side before they travel to Georgia for the Junior World Championship, where they have pool stage fixtures against New Zealand, Italy and Japan. The young Scots will also take on Wales next Friday, June 12, also at Meggetland.
‘Being brave’ the biggest thing for Scotland this week says captain Ollie Blyth-Lafferty
“It's quite cool,” said Blyth-Lafferty about getting to return to his and his brother Jerry’s boyhood club with Scotland. “We found out I think two weeks ago that both our warm-up games were going to be here, so it was quite nice to hear that I was coming back to the home ground to play.
“I haven't played here I think since I was 16. Boroughmuir was massive for me and Jerry, we used to play on the back pitches through age grade from minis up until under 18s Getting to really be part of the club in that way was huge for me pushing on in adult rugby.”
On the challenge he expects Ireland to provide, Blyth-Lafferty added: “They want to move the ball, they're really brave. They have defensive mobility as well around the breakdown, they've got really big jackal threats and some of their centres carry really hard.
“We know that there are going to be a lot of opportunities for us, but there's also going to be a lot of threats as well, but we think that the opportunities outweigh the threats. I think the boys are confident going into the game and the biggest thing we wanted to emphasise this week would be just being brave.”
Scotland under 20 starting XV to face Ireland: 15. Henry Widdowson (Edinburgh Rugby), 14. Daniel Kelly (Watsonian FC), 13. Sam Leweni (Edinburgh Rugby), 12. Alex Bryden (Glasgow Warriors), 11. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby), 10. Jake Dalziel (Merchiston Castle School/Melrose RFC), 9. Matthew Fick (Edinburgh Rugby). 1. Will Pearce (Cardiff Metropolitan University/Bristol Bears), 2. Jack Utterson (Edinburgh Rugby), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty – Captain (Edinburgh Rugby), 4. Alfie Blackett (Cardiff Metropolitan University), 5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors), 6. Sam Byrd (Edinburgh Rugby), 7. Harvey Preston (Glasgow Hawks), 8. Harry Jackaman (Watsonian FC).
Replacements: 16. Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors), 17. Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby), 18. Jackson Rennie (Glasgow Warriors), 19. Fin Mather (Grammar Tec), 20. Archie Appleby (Northampton Saints), 21. Rory Purvis (Glasgow Warriors), 22. Rory Baxter (GHA RFC), 23. Oliver Finlayson-Russell (University of St Andrews), 24. Hamish MacArthur (Edinburgh Rugby), 25. Calum Jessop (Heriot’s Rugby), 26. Harry Soboil (Edinburgh Rugby), 27. Rory McHaffie (Edinburgh Rugby), 28. Harry Provan (Glasgow Warriors).
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