Gemmell trains Scottish sights on semis in home finale
DAVID FERGUSON
SCOTLAND have never reached the semi-finals of an IRB World Sevens Series tournament, but coach Stephen Gemmell has made that the goal in this weekend's finale at Murrayfield.

The Scottish Rugby Union changed tack with the sevens squad last summer, and in a bid to cut costs and better channel the country's resources decided to send a squad made up of young academy players to the eight-tournament series. They struggled in the first events in Dubai and South Africa, but gradually got to grips with the daunting sevens arena and last weekend at Twickenham made their fourth successive quarter-final.


Stephen Gemmell, the head coach, said: "We were happy to be in the quarter-finals at Twickenham, but disappointed in how we performed on Sunday to be honest. We had a real opportunity against Wales, but didn't perform at the level we set ourselves.

"What we have to make sure is that we don't plateau at [quarter-final] level. That might sound strange because if you'd said at the start of the season that we'd have four consecutive cup quarter-finals then we'd all have bitten your hand off. But this group of players have set themselves high standards and while reaching quarter-finals gives you a boost it's now about pushing on from that.

"That is the measure of this team: can we push on from being consistent quarter-finalists and take that next step?"

Reaching the last eight is not a simple task in this environment. England, Australia, France, Argentina, Kenya and Wales have all been semi-finalists in the recent past, but also failed to make the quarter-finals at other tournaments.

Gemmell is hopeful that a home crowd could help and while there is potential for an appetising Scotland v England quarter-final clash on Sunday, he urged Scots to pitch up for the entire weekend's rugby. Scotland's first tie is against Russia on Saturday at 11:45am.

"When any young player or coach sets out on a pathway they want to be involved in international rugby at Murrayfield and we have a unique opportunity to play in front of a home crowd in an international competition and, more importantly, be competitive in it," he added.

"My advice would be to be there from first thing in the morning until last thing at night because you'll see the shocks and high-quality of rugby early on day one just as much as late on day two. I want Scots there to enjoy the experience and spectacle because all the rugby on show will be of a quality many will not have seen before, but, selfishly, if we can get the crowd there for all three of our games it will make a massive difference."

Fiji top the table with 120 points, ahead of New Zealand who are 10 points adrift, and Samoa, four points further back. Gemmell highlighted the class in

This article was posted on 31-May-2007, 07:16 by Hugh Barrow.