SCOTS OFF TO HONG KONG FLIER

Scotland 7s are off to the best possible start at the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens (30 March – 1 April), having beaten Portugal 31-7 in their only match on day one at the three day event earlier today.

The Scots led 12-0 at half time in the Hong Kong Stadium with a try apiece for Glasgow Warriors’ Max Evans and Edinburgh Rugby’s Ross Rennie. Mike Adamson converted Rennie’s try.

In the second half Ben Addison and Jamie Hunter followed up with tries before Adamson added one of his own. He converted Addison’s try as well as his own for the 31-7 victory.

Coach Stephen Gemmell said: “The guys played to our shape and put Portugal under pressure. We were accurate and held our shape for the whole game, which we’d aimed to do. It has given us something to build on tomorrow when we play Sri Lanka and Fiji but we have to keep the continuity up.”

On tomorrow’s opening encounter, Gemmell said: “Sri Lanka lost 45-0 to Fiji today but we know they’ll be competitive against us. We have to force them to defend and put them under pressure. We don’t need to force it and we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s matches. The atmosphere here in the stadium is very good.”

Scotland 7s’ fixtures:
Day 2 – (Saturday 31 March)
10:30am – Scotland v Sri Lanka
5:06pm – Fiji v Scotland
(both times are local to Hong Kong, +8 hours)

Scotland 7s squad for the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens (30 March – 1 April and Adelaide Sevens (7-8 April):
Michael Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Addison* (Glasgow Warriors, Stirling County & West of Scotland Institute of Sport), Callum Anderson* (Border Reivers, Melrose & East of Scotland Institute of Sport), Sean Crombie* (Border Reivers, Aberdeen Grammar Rugby & Grampian Institute of Sport), Simon Cross (Edinburgh Rugby), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Forrest* (Border Reivers & Hawick), Roddy Grant* (Border Reivers, Gala & East of Scotland Institute of Sport), Graham Hogg* (Border Reivers, Hawick & East of Scotland Institute of Sport), Jamie Hunter* (Glasgow Warriors, Hillhead/Jordanhill & West of Scotland Institute of Sport), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), Colin White* (Glasgow Warriors, Ayr & West of Scotland Institute of Sport)

* = Members of Scottish Rugby’s National Academy

The draw for the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens:
Pool A: Fiji, Scotland, Portugal, Sri Lanka
Pool B: South Africa, Wales Tonga, Chinese Taipei
Pool C: Samoa, Canada, Japan, China
Pool D: New Zealand, Kenya, Russia, Italy
Pool E: England, Argentina, Korea, Hong Kong
Pool F: France, Australia, Tunisia, USA

This article was posted on 30-Mar-2007, 17:13 by Hugh Barrow.