NEW ZEALAND 31 - 0 SCOTLAND
SCOTS OUTMUSCLED IN ADELAIDE OPENER
Friday, 19 March 2010

Scotland 7s lost their opening Adelaide 7s match, conceding fives tries, in a bruising encounter with IRB World Sevens Series leaders New Zealand (0-31).
With Chris Kinloch recalled for Glasgow Warriors’ match against Leinster and contracted sevens internationalist Colin Shaw ruled out with a head knock, the Scots’ 12-man squad was minus two key players before the match even kicked off.
Of the ten remaining, four new 7s caps were blooded in a valiant attempt to stand up to a side that have lead the Series since winning back to back legs in Dubai and George.
However, despite their attempts Scotland failed to match their opponent’s intensity and physicality at the breakdown, which ultimately cost them the match – with four out of five tries conceded through Kiwi counter-attacks following turnover ball.
Scotland 7s head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “In patches we played some good rugby without any real cutting edge and we struggled physically. We need to improve our accuracy at the breakdown. "
“You have to keep the ball in international sevens and if you don’t have the physicality then you have to be very technical. If you’re not, at this level, you’ll get punished.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’ matches with Argentina and Tonga Gemmell added: “Both teams offer a different challenge with the Tongans offering another very physical challenge while the Argentine’s have a bit more pace and quick feet.”
SCOTLAND 7S TEAM V NEW ZEALAND
Struan Dewar (Heriot's), Lewis Calder (London Scottish), Pat MacArthur (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Adamson*, Rory Hutton (Heriot's), Lee Jones (Selkirk), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
Replacements
Ross Curle (Ayr) on for Hutton, Peter Jericevich (Glasgow Hawks) on for Adamson, Michael Fedo (Watsonians) on for Calder
Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide (19-21 March): Lewis Calder (London Scottish), Struan Dewar (Heriot's)**, Michael Fedo (Watsonians), Pat MacArthur (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Shaw*, Mike Adamson*, Ross Curle (Ayr), Rory Hutton (Heriot's)**, Peter Jericevich (Glasgow Hawks)**, Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Chris Kinloch (Glasgow Warriors), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
Unavailable due to injury: Scott Forrest* (ankle)
* = Scotland 7s contracted player
** = Member of Scottish Rugby's National Academy
IRB Adelaide Sevens, Pool A: New Zealand, Argentina, Scotland, Tonga
Scotland’s fixture on day one (Friday 19 March) of the IRB Adelaide Sevens:
New Zealand v Scotland, 7.28pm local time (8.58am GMT)
Scotland’s fixtures on day two (Saturday 20 March) of the IRB Adelaide Sevens:
Argentina v Scotland, 4.05pm local time (5.35am GMT)
Scotland v Tonga, 6.10pm local time (7.40am GMT)

This article was originally posted on 19-Mar-2010, 10:54 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 19-Mar-2010, 12:59.