Scotland and Wales to face-off in London Bowl competition

Scotland 7s will play Wales in the London 7s Bowl quarter-finals tomorrow (Sunday 11 May) at 9.44am.

Though they competed well with South Africa in their final game of day one, 12-26 and beating Portugal, 31-5, the Scots were unable to back-up their fourth place finish at last weekend’s Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s.

Ultimately the defining game of the day was France first up.  A win here for the Scots could have seen them progress to the Cup quarter-finals, however a late comeback was not enough as the French came out on top 14-10.

Scotland 7s head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “It has been a frustrating day.  We had a better game against South Africa and we played some good rugby.

“But that game was not the game that cost us today.  We did not front up against France, we made too many mistakes and suffered.

“We’re not a good enough team that we can make mistakes and then not be punished for them.  Our game is built on work-rate, accuracy, tempo and skills and it’s disappointing that those didn’t come through today.

We can now only focus on game one tomorrow, we are where we are.  We must get these parts of our game right more often.  Players know that Commonwealth Games places are up for grabs and they must front up tomorrow to be considered.”

On a positive note, Scotland 7s captain Colin Gregor won his 50^th cap in today’s competition; Jack Cuthbert and Lewis Young won their first caps and marked the occasion with three and two tries respectively.

First against France the Scots’ opponents went ahead early with tries from Virimi Vakatawa and then Julien Candelon, both converted by Terry Bouhraoua.

The performance was hindered by basic errors and a high penalty count that lost Scotland possession.  With minutes left on the clock the team found their stride, but tries from replacements Michael Maltman and the return of speedster, James Fleming, neither of which were converted, were not enough to bring the scoreboard over into Scotland's favour.

Cuthbert & Young win first caps

In the second match against Portugal, Scotland 7s were a much-improved side.  Their decision-making and retention of possession saw them beat Portugal 31-5 with scores for Andrew Turnbull, Cuthbert with a brace, Lewis and Gregor Young.

Finally against South Africa, Scotland competed well in the first half, but a strong and more concise Sprinboks out played them in the end.

Cuthbert scored his third try of the day as the Scots went in at half-time 5-14 down.  Lewis Young then scored his second try of the afternoon, when twin brother Gregor picked off the pass sending Lewis in with 55 metres to cover.

Scott Wight was denied a last ditch chance to score when he and his opposite man played a game of football.   Wight put in three kicks to take him over the whitewash, but he just lost the foot race in the end. 

London 7s day one 

Scotland 10-14 France 

• Tries: Michael Maltman and James Fleming
• Starting team: Scott Riddell, Colin Shaw, Struan Dewar, Colin Gregor, Mark Robertson, Andrew Turnbull and Scott Wight.
• Replacements: Lewis Young, Jack Cuthbert (both 9mins), James Fleming, Michael Maltman (10mins) and Gregor Young (13mins).

Scotland 31-5 Portugal

• Tries: Andrew Turnbull, Jack Cuthbert (2), Lewis Young & Gregor Young
• Conversions: Colin Gregor (2) and Scott Wight
• Starting team: Scott Riddell, Colin Gregor, Andrew Turnbull, Michael Maltman, Scott Wight, Lewis Young and Jack Cuthbert.
• Replacements: Colin Shaw (7mins), Struan Dewar, Gregor Young (both 8mins), James Fleming and Mark Robertson (both 9mins).  

Scotland 12-26 South Africa

• Tries: Jack Cuthbert and Lewis Young
• Conversion: Colin Gregor
• Starting team: Scott Riddell, Colin Gregor, Andrew Turnbull, Michael Maltman, Scott Wight, Lewis Young and Jack Cuthbert.
• Replacements: Colin Shaw (8mins), Struan Dewar, Mark Robertson (both 10mins), Gregor Young and James Fleming (both 11mins).