| Scots seek further improvement at London 7s |
| Saturday, 22 May 2010 | ||
|
Scotland finished day one of the Emirates Airline London 7s in third place in Pool D - just as they were seeded prior to the event. Losses to Australia and England preceded a win over Russia which takes them into tomorrow's Bowl quarter-final where they will play France at 10.52am. However, as coach Stephen Gemmell not only conceded the disappointment of not achieving greater things, he also drew on the positives. "We're disappointed," he said, "but with the squad of individuals we've got, we set ourselves high standards. "We fell well below those standards defensively where we failed to get into our sevens shape rather than defending like XV-a-side. We gave the opposition space to play." But having lost games to traditionally strong sevens nations, and those fighting it out at the top of the World Series rankings, Gemmell knows that more game-time together should settle his side.
"The reality is that we've lost to Australia and England who are fighting it out for fourth in the world. This weekend is about giving all these guys experience. Players like Alex Blair will be all the better for that. "We want to give guys opportunities tomorrow and build on what we did today. Our focus now has to be about building on our attacking game and improving our defensive structure. We have three games tomorrow that we want to be involved in." Not only has Gemmell set out Scotland's stall for tomorrow, but he is already urging rugby fans to come out and enjoy the carnival sevens atmosphere when the IRB Sevens World Series rolls into Edinburgh next weekend for the season finale. "I sit out there and listen to the crowd and what a difference they made when we played against England. "For us next weekend, I urge all the fans to come out and support us. What a difference it can make. "We managed to silence them for a few minutes at the start, but in this party atmosphere, it's given England a huge boost. What a difference people can make to the home team." POOL D, GAME 1 - AUSTRALIA 43-17 SCOTLAND The Aussies adopted a high-tempo start to the game as the Scots stood off tackles. A knock-on from Greig Laidlaw after the ball had been tapped back at the re-start game gave ACT Brumbies flanker Henry Vanderglas the chance to run in for the first score of the game. 5-0. Scotland rallied, however, and as Mark Robertson ripped the ball in contact, he sent a nicely timed pass out to captain Scott Forrest who ran in from 40 yards. 5-5. Scotland then took the lead through a first-class try from John Houston. The ball was spun wide to the Edinburgh centre who ran a straight angle into the Aussie defence where he broke through two defenders and stepped the sweeper to score. Adamson converted. 5-12. But Australia, always one of the least popular sides on the World Series, crossed twice among the light-hearted boo's of the Twickenham crowd, to take the lead at half-time. The first came from Clinton Sills, the second from James Stannard. 15-12. Half-time score: Australia 15-12 Scotland Following the second-half re-start, Australia crossed in the first phase of play. Simple pace on the outside of Mike Adamson was enough for Sills to grab his second of the day so far. The second try of the second half was a first for day one of the sevens - a hat-trick! Sills was the man to notch the try trio as he twice received the ball out in space - charging his way towards the line. 29-12. Scotland again tried to regain the lead, but this time it wasn't to be. Throughout a period of good ball retention, they adopted a stop-start attack which sucked in enough Aussie defenders to allow Andrew Turnbull space on the left flank to run in. 29-17. The second half ended just as the first had begun with Scotland falling off tackles and Australia scoring tries. The lack of conviction at the contact area saw Brackin Karauria-Henry cross the whitewash whilst Vanderglas closed the scoring having opened it 14 minutes earlier. 43-17. Fulltime score: Australia 43-17 Scotland POOL D, GAME 2 - ENGLAND 36-10 SCOTLAND Some good ball retention resulted in a break for Mark Robertson. Despite his resulting offload appearing to spill forward, the referee had spotted that the forward motion came from English intervention and thus Colin Shaw received the ball and stretched over the line. 0-5. Shaw was the man to grab Scotland's second try of the match and put the Scots 10 points into the lead, much to the surprise of the sun-drenched home fans at Twickenham. Greig Laidlaw spotted Shaw in acres of space and sent the ball towards the winger who ran in from distance. 0-10. But England took stock and ran in two tries before the break to even the scores out. A Mike Adamson re-start went out on the full and England chose to take a quick tap penalty at the half-way line. As they advanced, their penultimate attacked was brought to ground by Laidlaw before Christian Wade dotted down. 5-10. The final try of the half was to be a momentous one for its scorer. Similar to the previous one, this time Ben Gollings was on the receiving end to claim his 200th IRB Sevens World Series try. 10-10. Half-time score: England 10-10 Scotland With things level at half-time, England sought to seal another win on home soil having already seen off the challenge of Russia earlier in the day. Ally Hogg conceded a soft penalty on the England 22, from where the home side mounted their attack. They won territory as the seconds ticked by working through the phases using patient, yet physical, play. Gollings eventually spotted space in behind the Scotland defence and sent a neat little chip through for James Rodwell who gave chase and touched down. 17-10. A diagonal solo run to the line by Mat Turner preceded a Tom Varndell double which killed-off any chance Scotland had of catching the home side. 24-10. The home crowd rose to its feet as Varndell rounded Lee Jones to score his first before a nice flip-pass out from contact gave him the ball which he scooped up and carried over the line for his second. 36-10. Fulltime score: England 36-10 Scotland POOL D, GAME 3 - SCOTLAND 24-7 RUSSIA Roddy Grant handed-off half the Russian defence line before releasing Andrew Turnbull, who jolted into full stride and touched down between the posts. 7-0. Scotland, however, soon committed three of their smallest players - Mike Adamson, Greig Laidlaw and Andrew Turnbull - into the contact area where possession was turned over. Igor Galinovskiy eventually jaunted across the line before Nikolay Shugay added the extras. 7-7. But this was a game that Scotland never looked like losing. Selkirk winger Lee Jones, who had been fairly quiet in his two previous outings, sprung into life. He held up his opposite man before racing down the left wing. A beautifully timed pass inside to Turnbull in support gave the Scots a crucial half-time advantage. 14-7. Half-time score: Scotland 14-7 Russia Scotland sealed their third place finish with two tries in the second period. Jones once again showed his international quality by stepping inside to beat two defenders and break free. Although he was brought down short of the line, he has the wherewithal to offload to Turnbull in support who duly claimed his hat-trick. 19-7. Scotland's final act of the day was once again ignited by Grant. The Edinburgh flanker sucked in two defenders with a snappy goose-step before popping the ball to Hogg who ran a line on the outside to touch down in the corner. Fulltime score: Scotland 24-7 Russia Scotland 7s v Australia: Scott Forrest, Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mike Adamson, Colin Shaw, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) Scotland 7s v England: Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mike Adamson, Colin Shaw, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) Scotland 7s v Russia: Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mike Adamson, Chris Fusaro (Heriot's), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh), Lee Jones (Selkirk) Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series in London (22 & 23 May) and Edinburgh (29 & 30 May): Scott Forrest CAPTAIN*, Mike Adamson*, Alex Blair (Edinburgh Accies)**, Chris Fusaro (Heriot's)**, Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Colin Shaw*, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh) * = Scotland 7s contracted player
Pool D - Emirates Airline London 7s Scotland's Pool D results on day one of the Emirates Airline London 7s Pool C - Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Scotland's Pool C fixtures on day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 29 and 30 May 2010. Tickets are available to by logging onto www.edinburgh7s.com by calling the 24-hour Ticket Hotline - 0844 335 3933 or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre, Gate A, Roseburn Street, Edinburgh (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday). Ticket prices All tickets are ANY DAY tickets - valid for either day of the event. Tickets for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s are available to buy on match day. |
||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
