SCOTS BOW OUT IN HIGHEST EVER PLACE
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Scotland 12, England 26

The Scotland 7s team put up a brave fight against England in the Cup semi-final at the Emirates Airline London 7s at Twickenham today.
England sought to dominate the first half, as they had done in their quarter-final meeting with Australia, but Scotland refused to budge.
England immediately punished Scotland as they turned over possession in the tackle and generated plenty of space for captain Ollie Phillips to cross for the opening try. Ben Gollings converted.
Tom Biggs then executed a simple step inside to touch down between the posts, and with Gollings adding the extras, gave England a useful advantage.
Scotland governed the second quarter as Colin Gregor picked the ball from the base of the ruck and sprinted to the line.
He was unable to convert his own score but slotted his second as John Houston brought Scotland back into the game just before the break.
Half-time score: Scotland 12, England 14
Struggling to gain and retain possession in the second half gave England the edge in front of a patriotic home crowd.
The home side took time to find a gap and Phillips eventually took the initiative and barged his own way through, offloading to Greg Barden who was able to touch down between the posts making the conversion unmissable.
The game was killed shortly before the final whistle as Gollings stepped his opposite man and ducked underneath the advances of replacement Hefin O’Hare to slip through.
Both sides will face each other again on day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival at Murrayfield next Saturday (30 May, 12:09pm).
Scotland 7s’ starting team v England: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors)
Scotland 7s squad to compete at the final two events on the IRB Sevens World Series in London (23 and 24 May) and Edinburgh (30 and 31 May): Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
* = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Contracted National Academy

This article was posted on 24-May-2009, 17:41 by Hugh Barrow.