Scotland Under-20 rugby head coach Peter Wright is taking his young charges to a scene of Scottish heroism to inspire the team close to where they will kick off their Six Nations campaign in France on Friday night.
The former British Lion was planning to take the squad to Sword Beach, just a few miles from match venue Caen in Normandy, and where the 51st Highland and the 15th Scottish Divisions were among the first units to land on D-Day 57 years ago.
They will also visit Pegasus Bridge, linking the town of Ouistreham with Caen, where piper Bill Millin played Highland Laddie non-stop to inspire the Scottish troops throughout the prolonged battle to liberate both towns.
“This is a great group of lads who are very humble and we thought it would be a good thing to let them see the sacrifices made by young men of their age in the past,” he said.
“We wouldn’t be going to France to play rugby if it wasn’t for the bravery of those guys, and it is right that we remember them.”
Stirling County’s Mike Doneghan is part of what Wright, who moved up from forwards coach to head coach this season, describes as “the best back division I’ve been involved with at under-20 level.”
“They all have the ability to beat players one-on-one and we know with our resources we can’t match France physically, so we’ll need that in this game,” he said.