Kenya 22, Scotland 17

Scotland couldn’t quite maintain the intensity of their win over England earlier today as they were narrowly beaten by Kenya on day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival at Murrayfield this afternoon.

They will now face Canada at 6:56pm. Depending on other results, it could come down to points difference on who progresses to the coveted Cup quarter-finals.

Afterwards, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell said: “Our work rate wasn’t as high as it should’ve been off the ball rather than on the ball. We didn’t fill in enough in defensively and we didn’t support enough in terms of attack.

“The players know what our game is built on and we just floated in and out of our game there. Kenya are a quality side and we’re not going to take anything away from them.

“We’ve just got to hope they do us a favour against England and we really turn things up against Canada.

“The crowd were magnificent again and I hope they stay with us and get behind us because they can make a massive difference.”

Sean Lamont again proved to be a significant threat to the opposition. Early in the first half, he took on his opposite man and burst up the left wing. He was brought down inches from the line but managed to offload to Roddy Grant. The flanker then planted his feet to stave off any Kenyan tackles and eventually burst through the defence to stretch over.

Scotland’s defence then started to weaken. Kenya worked the ball left and Lavin Asego took an inside pop to cross the line. Despite having the chance to score himself, an unselfish Asego passed to Collins Injera who touched down between the posts to make the conversion easier. Asego added the two points.

No-one seemed to be able to bring Grant to the floor as he made yet another spectacular break. He burst through the smallest of gaps in midfield and bumped off Gibson Weru Kahuthia to get a free run to the line.

Kenya then fought back, and levelled the score, as Victor Oduor slipped through Scotland’s drift defence. He was hauled down by Colin Gregor but managed to ground ball over the line.

Just before the break, Ally Hogg deliberately knocked forward a Kenyan pass and was sent to the sin bin for his efforts.

Down to six men, Scotland conceded a valuable try. Some simple, yet effective, interplay between Injera and Allan Onyango sent Onyango across the whitewash to give Kenya a five point advantage at the break.

Half-time score: Kenya 17, Scotland 12

The scores were level yet again early into the second period.

Hogg made his return from the sin bin and made an immediate impact as he soaked in three defenders. He offloaded to Hefin O’Hare who slid over the line.

However, the decisive score came from the Kenyans as a kick ahead was collected. Colin Gregor made what seemed to be a try saving tackle, but with Kayange in support, the move was completed.

Full-time score: Kenya 22, Scotland 17

Scotland starting team v Kenya: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton)

Kenya starting team v Scotland: Victor Oduor, Allan Onyango, Humphrey Kayange, Biko Adema, Gibson Weru Kahuthia, Lavin Asego, Collins Injera

Scotland 7s squad to compete at the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival (30 and 31 May): Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Sean Lamont (Northampton), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)

* = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Contracted National Academy

Edinburgh Pool C: Kenya, England, Canada, Scotland

Scotland 7s’ Pool C fixtures on day one (Saturday 30 May) of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival: England v Scotland (kick-off 12.09pm), Kenya v Scotland (3.13pm), Canada v Scotland (6.56pm)