Scotland A (12) 22
Tries: Vernon Con: Jackson Pens: Jackson 5
France A (3) 12
Pens: Estebanez 3 Drop-goal: Lespinas

Jackson has benefited from the guidance of coach Gregor Townsend

Coach Andy Robinson secured his first piece of silverware as Scotland A defeated France A to lift the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest.

Glasgow Warriors stand-off Ruaridh Jackson's 15 penalty points put the Scots in a strong position at 15-3.

The French came back to 15-12 before Richie Vernon's late try and a Jackson conversion secured the victory.

Scotland won all three of their matches in the tournament, with triumphs over Russia and Uruguay.

Robinson's men got off to a flying start at the Arcul de Triumf Stadium when Jackson converted a penalty from just outside the 22 on the right.

And, with less than 20 minutes on the clock, Scotland were 9-0 up as 21-year-old Jackson added two more penalties awarded by English referee JP Doyle.

Jackson showed his class with a beautiful cross-field kick to set Jim Thompson rampaging down the left.

It's been a good tournament and we have enjoyed working under Andy Robinson. He is a great coach Scotland A captain Chris Cusiter

He found touch inside the 22 with his clever chip, but the French cleared the danger from the line-out.

After Scotland's deficit was reduced to six by Fabrice Estebanez with a penalty, again Jackson kicked between the posts to give Scotland a healthy half-time lead.

Minutes after the re-start, Doyle sin-binned Jean-Phillipe Genevois and Jackson added his fifth penalty to make it 15-3.

But, despite being a man down, it was France who registered the next three scores, with Estebanez twice converting penalties as they upped the pressure on the Scots and Montauban fly-half Regis Lespinas pulling it back to 15-12 with a drop-goal.

These were stressful times for coach Robinson, who had agreed to lead the team into the tournament before his appointment as head coach of the full Scotland side, and assistant Gregor Townsend.

Relief was provided by a forward burst from Vernon, latching on to a Ben Cairns pass, who ran over the line with 10 minutes remaining.

Jackson supplied the simple conversion and the Scots held their nerve to secure the win.

Captain Chris Cusiter was elated after he had held the IRB Nations Cup aloft.

"There are a lot of young guys playing for Scotland for the first time and I'm pretty confident that a lot of guys are going to make the step up to the full international squad and we can build on something for the future," he said.

"It's been a good tournament and we have enjoyed working under Andy Robinson. He is a great coach.

"I am heading for Glasgow next season, but I finished my time with Perpignan by winning the French title and it was good to finish the season with another win."

For Robinson, the trophy is a welcome boost at the beginning of his coaching career with his adopted country.

"I was pleased with the attitude of the team," he said, a recurring theme throughout the campaign in sweltering Romania.

"If we retain that and produce that kind of work rate, we will continue to win games.

"We got the lead and sat back on it a bit, but we scored a great try at the end.

"We have to focus on a winning mentality and take that into our next game against Fiji."

Scotland A: Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Cusiter, capt (Perpignan), Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), Craig Hamilton (Edinburgh), Al Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh Rugby), Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Andrew Kelly (Edinburgh), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), Calum Forrester (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), David Blair (Edinburgh), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh).

France A: Florian Denos; Yoann Huget, Lionel Mazras, Fabrice Estebanez, Remy Grosso; Regis Lespinas, Julien Tomas captain; Aretz Iguiniz, Jean-Phillipe Genevois, Luc Ducalon, Yoann Maestri, Aliki Fakate, Ibrahim Diarra, Raphael Lakafia, Steve Malonga.
Replacements: Brice Mach, Yannick Forestier, Guillaume Villaceca, Marc Baget, Julien Audy, Louis Madaule, Romain Sola

Referee: JP Doyle

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