It was a tough weekend for Scotland as they finished in 8th place at the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Grand Prix Series in Marcoussis, France.

The team gained promotion back into the Grand Prix series by winning the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens in 2017.

Under new Scotland Women 7s Head Coach, Scott Forrest, the team displayed grit and determination against some competitive opponents, but could only record one win out of six.

Day One

Scotland Women 7s opened the first round of the competition with a disappointing 41-7 loss against a clinical Irish side, who ran in seven tries to secure a comfortable win. Scotland salvaged a score through Chloe Rollie, with Helen Nelson adding the extras.

Scotland fell short in their second game against Wales (25-12), as two tries in the second-half by Elizabeth Musgrove and Nelson were not enough to overcome a strong Welsh side.

The third match, against Poland, proved more fruitful as the Scots hit their stride. Louise McMillan opened the scoring and was shortly joined on the scoresheet by Musgrove, with Lisa Martin adding the extras to extend the side’s lead into the interval. Scotland continued to dominate proceedings in the second-half, as Lauren Harris raced up the left wing to score, with Martin easing the conversion between the uprights (7-21).

Day Two

The Scots endured a difficult start to the day, as they were overpowered by a physical Russian outfit in the quarter-finals (34-0).©RugbyPeople

Scotland were then drawn against earlier opponents, Wales, in a battle for fifth place. The side came out firing in the first-half, with Abi Evans, Eilidh Sinclair and Rollie all crossing the whitewash. Wales retaliated in the second-half, and despite another try from Harris, the team were dealt with a heartbreaking blow as Wales scored in the dying moments of the game to clinch the win (26-24).

In the last match of the day, Scotland were defeated by Spain in another close affair (21-14). Skipper Nelson scored twice in the match and converted both her scores. Despite a spirited performance, Spain secured victory and Scotland concluded their campaign finishing in 8th place.

The Scotland Women 7s will head to Kazan in September for the second and final round of the competition.

Try Scorers in Marcoussis

Helen Nelson (3)

Chloe Rollie (2)

Elizabeth Musgrove (2)

Lauren Harris (2)

Louise McMillan (1)

Abi Evans (1)

Eilidh Sinclair (1)

Images courtesy of: Adrian Henry (Rugby People)