Fiji 7s 33, Scotland 7s 7

The Scotland 7s team couldn’t match a dominant Fijian 7s side at the IRB Adelaide Sevens today as the South Sea Islanders continued to dominate following their outstanding Cup success in Hong Kong last weekend.

The Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 30 and 31 May 2009.

Tickets for each day of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival - priced at £15 for adults, £10 for students and senior citizens and £5 for under 18s – are available to purchase by logging onto www.scottishrugbytickets.com, by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0131 346 5100 (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).

Despite what the scoreboard might suggest, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell feels his squad showed encouraging signs when compared to last weekend as they continue their march towards Murrayfield for the final event of the IRB Sevens World Series - the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival on 30 & 31 May.

“We had a high percentage of ball today but didn’t get our defence organised quickly enough at the breakdown,” he said.

“We had good possession in attack but our support play wasn’t good enough to convert that into points. We also need to work hard on making crucial one-on-one tackles.

“Over the piece, our performance has improved from last weekend, we now have something to build on ahead of Argentina and France tomorrow morning.”

The Scots started the game brightly with an early score from captain Scott Forrest. Calum MacRae added the extras before Fiji edged back into the game.

An unconverted try separated the two sides by two points which would have given the Scots a morale-boosting advantage at half-time, but a fumble on their own line, from which the Fijians scored, was the turning point of the game.

Half-time score: Fiji 7s 12, Scotland 7s 7

Fiji, who are currently sitting third in the overall standings, swept the board in the second half with three converted tries, however, a promising first half has given Scotland plenty to look forward to on the second day of the competition tomorrow.

Scotland 7s team v Fiji: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)*, Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors)
Replacements: Scott Riddell (Blaydon) for Easson, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)** for O’Hare, Graham Hogg (Hawick)* for Hunter

Adelaide Pool B: Argentina, Fiji, France, Scotland

Scotland 7s’ Pool B fixtures at the IRB Adelaide Sevens (3-5 April):
Day 1 – Fiji v Scotland, kick-off 6:58pm CST, 8:58am BST
Day 2 – Argentina v Scotland, kick-off 1:43pm CST, 3:43am BST
Day 2 – France v Scotland, kick-off 4:10pm CST, 6:10am BST

Scotland 7s squad (sponsor Murray) to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide (3-5 April): Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)**, Alex Dunbar (Selkirk)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Graham Hogg (Hawick)*, Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)*, Chris Kinloch (Glasgow Warriors), Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Riddell (Blaydon), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh)

* = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Contracted National Academy
** = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Area Institute Supported National Academy