SCOTS ARE OUT OF LUCK AND OUT OF CUP
Scotland 40-7 Hong Kong
(21-7 HT)

Scotland put in top quality performance to end the day by seeing off Hong Kong 40-7 but the remaining pool match went against them with Argentina beating South Africa: the result meaning Scotland have been knocked-out the cup competition on points difference.

Rob Moffat spoke after Scotland’s win:
“We hoped that South Africa would win their game against Argentina but there is nothing we can do about that.”

On-form Clark Laidlaw was pleased with the day’s performances and hoped it would be enough to see them through:
“We’ve did all we could do and if the odds go against us on points difference then we’ll just have to take that on the chin.”

This is what they’ll now have to do as the head for the quarter-finals of the bowl tomorrow where they will meet China.

This result is a disappointing and frustrating end to a day which provided some good rugby from the squad and things were really starting to gel for the players.

“I thought we played well. We won 40 points to 7 and that is not bad. South Africa and Argentina didn’t beat them by anymore.” [36-0, 38-5 respectively]

Andrew Turnbull displayed great footwork skills and speed to get two tries in each half and was certainly looking back to his best.

Ben Cairns started the try count two minutes in after some great burrowing from Ciaran Beattie to win the ball from Hong Kong’s scrum.

Hong Kong did threaten at times and made some sterling attempts to score (claiming a last minute try when the result was sealed) but Scotland dominated and linked well between forwards and backs to also get Clark Laidlaw and Cairns with tries to their name.

Moffat said: “We were pretty consistent over the day. Our target in this tournament is to play consistently well over the whole tournament and finish ‘our world tour’ on a high!”

Laidlaw said after the game: “It’s been good day. We put in a good team performance, the boys are working well within the structure. What we’ve been trying to establish over the past 6 weeks is really starting to click in this tournament so we are pretty happy. We’re confident going into tomorrow who ever we face, and we’ll make sure our performance is good.”

It’s an unfortunate turn of fate for Scotland as Argentina go through to the cup with South Africa. The team had hoped to continue their cup crusade from last weekend in Hong Kong and everyone left the field tonight in a very upbeat mood. This quickly changed when the next result and consequence of this filtered through [Argentina 19-17 South Africa].

The best the Scots can come away with now will be the bowl and they will be sure to do all they can to pick up their third of the series.

Scotland team:
Mark Lee * (King’s Own Scottish Borderers) CAPTAIN, Clark Laidlaw * (Jed-Forest), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Gunners and Stewart’s Melville FP), Andrew Turnbull * (Watsonians), Scott Forrest (Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Hawks), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh Gunner’s and Currie) and Ciaran Beattie (Border Reivers and Selkirk).

Subs: Matt Coupar (Edinburgh Academicals) for Cairns, Dave Callam * (Edinburgh Gunners), Oli Brown * (Boroughmuir), Colin Gregor * (Glasgow Warriors and Watsonians), and Ali Warnock * (Nottingham).
* indicates member of the Scottish Institute of Sport

SCOTS HOLD ON FOR CRUCIAL WIN
Posted: 08/Apr/06
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scotland 19-14 Argentina
(12-7 HT)
Scotland played the most exciting match of the day so far in the Singapore Sevens when they narrowly defeated a strong and physical Argentina side by 19 points to 14 and keep their cup hopes alive.
Team manager Pete Gallagher was extremely pleased with the result:
“A very good win for us. We said all along if we stick to our game and don’t do anything silly, then we are capable of taking on the top teams.
“In previous games, we’ve always varied it a bit when we didn’t need to but we stuck to our game plan. It was a bit nail-biting at the end and could have been a bit more sensible but it was a great chase-back from Ben Carins and a great result.”
This game really did go to the final passage of play with Ben Cairns preventing a final touchdown from Argentina which would have left the boys with no chance of progressing in the main stage of the event tomorrow. Scotland had possession in the final minute when a few panicked decisions gave the opposition a chance to kick down field but luckily the pace of Cairns allowed him to get to the ball first and kick it into touch.
Scotland got off to a strong start and opened the scoring in the third minute with a try from Oli Brown to take them five points ahead. They controlled the game for long spells and looked much sharper and ball-hungry than the previous match against South Africa.
The bagpipes started in the stadium and that, combined with the grey skies, helped the boys settle into their running and looked confident on the ball.
Ciaran Beattie was replaced early into the game by Mathew Coupar after taking a slight knock when he made a try-saving interception metres from the line and ran the ball out of play. The Argentineans kept on the pressure though, and took the lead through a converted try from Mariano Dobai under the posts.
A quickly taken penalty on halfway by Cairns gave room out wide for the ball to reach the hands of Andrew Turnbull who kicked ahead and won the sprint to the line, Clark Laidlaw slotting a fine conversion from the left touchline to take the Scots into the break with a critical lead.
Captain Mark Lee came on in the second half to give Scott Forrest a much deserved rest and worked tirelessly to win ball and ground Argentina’s aggressive forwards who were always dangerous. This proved so when Francisco Merello scored in the second minute to put the Scots back in catch-up position.
They stay composed and two phases later, got their reward - Andrew Turnbull claiming his second of the match in the corner, Laidlaw making light work of another challenging conversion to take them 19-14 in front.
A cool head was required in the final minute to maintain possession but Scotland lost their line-out and all hearts were in mouths as that final sprint for the touch line went Scotland’s way.
Andrew Turnbull was a key part of the win: “I’m absolutely delighted, the boys really dug in.
“We knew we had to win this game to qualify for the cup, we’ve still got Hong Kong to beat which will be a difficult game but the pressure is off a bit and we can go into that with real confidence.”
Scotland team:
Clark Laidlaw * (Jed-Forest), Dave Callam * (Edinburgh Gunners), Andrew Turnbull * (Watsonians), Oli Brown * (Boroughmuir), Scott Forrest (Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Hawks), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh Gunners and Currie) and Ciaran Beattie (Border Reivers and Selkirk).
Subs: Mark Lee * (King’s Own Scottish Borderers) CAPTAIN for Forrest, Matt Coupar (Edinburgh Academicals) for Beattie, Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Gunners and Stewart’s Melville FP), Colin Gregor * (Glasgow Warriors and Watsonians), and Ali Warnock * (Nottingham).
* indicates member of the Scottish Institute of Sport

This article was originally posted on 8-Apr-2006, 17:59 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 8-Apr-2006, 18:01.