SCOTS LEFT WAITING FOR HK CUP CONFIRMATION
Posted: 31/Mar/07
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Scotland 7s will have to sit on their hands to find out if they have done enough to qualify for the cup quarter-final of the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens (30 March – 1 April) after losing 26-0 to Fiji in their final pool match having defeating Portugal 31-7 on day one and Sri Lanka 53-21 earlier today.

The Scots now rely on the other results from the tournament going their way to give them a chance of picking up one of the two best placed runners up positions along side the six pool winners in tomorrow’s knock-out competition.

After day one all the top seeds were sitting at the top of their pools except Australia who were forced into second position by the USA on points difference after their superb 14-5 win over France.

However on day two, Canada, who finished day one second in Pool C, narrowly lost out to Japan 21-19 before Samoa smashed the Japanese 54-7. In Pool D, bottom placed Italy beat second seeds Kenya 19-5 this morning before Russia beat Italy 17-12. All eyes are now on Pool E where England and Argentina have won both their games but will face each other later today. In Pool F the USA came very close to beating Australia, losing just 15-14, before beating Tunisia 14-5 in their second match.

Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell said: “We’re sitting at +30 points so we just have to wait now. We’re watching England and Argentina closely, hoping that Argentina lose to England or only narrowly beat them. We aimed for the cup quarter-final before we came here so hopefully we’ve done enough.”

On today’s second match he said: “Fiji scored two quick tries from well taken kick-offs which left us a little shell shocked but we managed to get into the game and keep possession of the ball. If you make mistakes and are punished then you learn a lesson but it’s a better result against Fiji than we had in San Diego. We’ve got ten players with us who have never played here before so they are learning all the time.”

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 and Glasgow Hawks), 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 and Glasgow Hawks), 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 31-Mar-2007, 10:36 by Hugh Barrow.