Thornton helps Scotland past Ireland in Junior World Cup

George Thornton’s Scotland kept their Junior World Cup hopes alive with a 32-28 win over Ireland.
After losing their opener to New Zealand, this was a game Scotland had to win if their were to progress to the semi-final stages.
Ireland were in a similar situation after losing their first game to Italy.
Scotland found themselves 10-0 down midway through the first half after Stafford’s try and Dean’s conversion and penalty.
Tries from McCann and Renwick and one conversion from Eastgate gave the Scots a 12-10 lead at half-time.
Eastgate and Dean exchanged penalties to make it 15-12 to Scotland 11 minutes into the second half.
Graham’s unconverted try extended Scotland’s lead to 22-13 before Kelly’s converted try for Ireland reduced the arrears to just two points.
Eastgate’s try with 20 minutes remaining kept Scotland on top on the scoreboard, but his missed conversion left Ireland just a converted try behind.
A Tyman penalty cut the difference to 27-23, but once again, Scotland’s response was immediate.
Nairn’s try put the Scots nine points clear but there was still work to be done to celebrate the win.
Kelly’s second try set up a tense finale but the conversion was missed meaning the Irish needed a try to win.
Scotland held on for the important win and they now face Italy on Thursday with renewed hope.
Thornton played 78 minutes of the win.