GRAND Slam winner Mark Taylor has stepped down as team manager after Wales Under-20s finished their World Rugby U20 Championship with a crushing win against Scotland.

Wales had a disappointing campaign in which they lost narrowly to Ireland and New Zealand before being crushed 71-12 by the Baby Blacks in the fifth place play-off.

They finished on a high by beating Scotland 42-19 AT Manchester City Academy Stadium with tries by Dragons academy wing Jarrad Rosser along with prop Dillon Lewis, flanker Shane Lewis High, centre Joe Thomas and full-back Joe Gage.

After their disappointment against the Baby Blacks, Wales were on the front foot from the off and led 21-7 at the break

Captained by Dragosn back rower Harri Keddie, they kept going to finish a disappointing campaign on a high.

Head coach Jason Strange said, "We are pleased to go out with that performance. The boys played some good rugby for the most part and scored some good tries.

“They showed a lot of character to bounce back after Monday's disappointing showing (against New Zealand).

"The message to the team before the game was to play positively and move the ball, and they did that well.

“With five nder-18 age players involved today, that bodes well for next year too. Overall, we are pleased with the season, the players were outstanding in the Six Nations and have made some good memories. They are an excellent group of boys."

It was former Pontypool back Taylor’s last game with the centre, who won 52 caps, passing the team manager role on.

He said: “It’s been a massive experience for me over the past eight years, it’s been a pleasure for me to be part of the development of young players, especially when you see them go onto play for the senior Wales side.

“There have been a lot of highs and some lows in that time, which from a results point of view come down to a few heavy defeats to New Zealand, in 2011 and earlier this week.

“One of the biggest achievements was reaching the Junior World Championship final in 2013, when we probably should have beaten England in the final.

“Hallam Amos, Sam Davies, Steff Hughes and Jordan Williams were key to that campaign, especially in beating South Africa in the semi-final. It was the culmination of two- year period under Danny Wilson as coach and the players learned a huge amount from the experience.

“One of the highlights of my career, including my playing days, was being involved with the first side to beat New Zealand U20 in 2012.

“Our team had gone from losing to New Zealand by 92 points the year before, with the likes of Liam Williams and Kirby Myhill in the side, to come back 12 months later and turn them over.

“The likes of Tom Prydie, Samson Lee and Rob Evans were in that side, the match was played in some of the worst conditions imaginable and that victory was right up there in terms of special moments.

“Despite a few results going against us during this tournament in Manchester, the current crop of Wales U20 players also created something special in winning the Six Nations Grand Slam.

“The way they came back to win in Ireland got them off to a great start, and the desire they showed to stay in the Scotland and France games showed what they are made of.

“The highlight of the campaign though was the big victory over England, producing excellent rugby for 80 minutes.”

There was home delight in the tournament with England deservedly lifting the trophy after crushing Ireland 45-21.

Argentina claimed third place, their best finish in the tournament’s history, in the third place play-off against former winners South Africa, while dethroned champions New Zealand had to settle for fifth after coming out on top in a high-scoring encounter against rivals Australia.