Bowl ¼ Final - Samoa 7s 27, Scotland 7s 14
Shield semi-final - Scotland 7s 17, Japan 7s 14
Shield Final - Scotland 7s 21, USA 7s 24

The Scotland 7s team exited the IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide today at the Shield final stage.

Adelaide is the sixth stage of the eight-leg IRB Sevens World Series which culminates at the home of rugby sevens, Scotland, at the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival at Murrayfield on 30 and 31 May.

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).

Scotland started day three against Samoa in the Bowl quarter-final where the South Sea Islanders trounced their way to a 20-0 half-time lead with four unconverted tries.

A fifth try, this one converted, gave Scotland a mountain to climb in order to take anything from the opening game of the day.

The lively Hefin O’Hare touched down first for the Scots, his score converted by Graham Hogg, which was duly followed up by Chris Kinloch who dotted down moments later. Jim Thompson added the extras.

After the game, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell said: “We showed them far too much respect in the first half.

“When we went down, the boys seemed to start believing in themselves. They showed a lot more confidence in the second half.”

Three hours later, Scotland were up against Japan. A try from O’Hare got the Scots’ rolling before Japan edged in front shortly after with a converted score.

However, Roddy Grant and Thompson both crossed the whitewash before the break to give Scotland a 17-7 lead at half-time.

A very close second period saw only one try recorded as Japan came close to a comeback, but the game was to end 17-14 to Scotland.

Speaking after the final whistle, Gemmell said: “Again, we just played too much in stops and starts. We played well with ball in hand and played some good rugby sevens when we backed ourselves.

“Japan had a lot of possession in the second half so I was pleased with how our defence fronted up.”

Following their win over Japan, Scotland booked themselves a place in the Shield final against the USA who the Scots had beaten on day one of the Hong Kong tournament last weekend.

Scotland looked to be on familiar form to their win a week ago, scoring early tries through Thompson and Grant, Hogg converting both.

Revenge was on the cards for the Americans, however, and they fought back with two second half tries, one converted.

Scotland went into the closing minutes with a two point advantage as Grant touched down, Thompson slotting the conversion. But a try in the last minute of the game from the States saw them lift the Shield title.

At the end of a long weekend of competition, Gemmell said: “It’s disappointing to finish with a defeat. There were patches of good play but we lack consistency in a lot of things we do.

“There were a lot of sore bodies by the time the Shield semi-final came along, but we’re not making any excuses, we still had a chance to win that last game.

“We made one or two wrong decisions and didn’t react well enough on or off the ball.

“This weekend is gone now and we just need to look forward to the final two legs of the Series in London and Edinburgh.”

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

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

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

Scotland 7s’ results at the IRB Adelaide Sevens (3-5 April):
Day 1, Pool B - Fiji 33, Scotland 7
Day 2, Pool B – Argentina 12, Scotland 7
Day 2, Pool B – France 24, Scotland 12
Day 3, Bowl ¼ final – Samoa 27, Scotland 14
Day 3 Shield semi-final – Scotland 17, Japan 14
Day 3 Shield Final - Scotland 21, USA 24

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