Scottish tourists to play Wagga’s best

LORETTO School coach David Burton urged his players to adopt an expansive brand of rugby union when it faces a combined Wagga high schools team at Conolly Rugby Park tonight.Burton – who will guide the touring Scottish team during its showdown with the combined Wagga outfit – yesterday called on the playing group to back its ability and produce free-flowing rugby.He claimed his young and relatively inexperienced group was capable of carrying out instructions and securing its maiden tour victory since arriving on Australian soil a fortnight ago.“We’ve got a very young side, so it’s been a fantastic opportunity for the boys,” Burton said yesterday.“Our pack is probably our strength but we also have good players out wide.“We’ll keep things as open as we can and look to pass and move the ball around.”Burton, who admitted to knowing very little about their opponents, said tonight’s clash represented one part of a “fact-finding mission” in the lead-up to the start of the northern hemisphere rugby union season.“This is preparation for our upcoming rugby season, which doesn’t start until October,” he said.“It’s probably more of a fact-finding mission while we’re down here and allowing the boys to get ready for their seasons back home.”Burton hoped testing fixtures against schools in Perth and Melbourne prior to arriving in Wagga would stand the players in good stead tonight. “The opposition so far has been really strong and considering we come from a co-ed school of 350 people, we’ve found it quite tough,” he said.“We were put up against a state rep side in Victoria and lost our two other games to quality teams in Perth, so they’ve certainly brought out the big guns for us.”Loretto School’s chances of victory have already suffered a major setback with talented fly-half Tom Cahn, 16, ruled out because of a broken arm. Burton confirmed the school, which is based near Edinburgh, would next travel to Sydney to face The King’s School. Loretto School has also brought a girl’s hockey team, which will take on a combined Wagga high schools outfit at Jubilee Park tonight.