Kenya blocked Scotland's progress into to the Bowl final at the IRB Adelaide Sevens.
 
The Scotland 7s team will leave the IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide today with plenty to build on despite registering just one win in the competition.
The Scots, who had ran eventual Cup semi-finalists Argentina close on day one, defeated Japan (21-15) in the Bowl quarter-finals on day three to progress to the semi-final stage where they were beaten by Kenya (36-12).
Despite the solitary win, Scotland finished within their seeding bracket (9th-12th place) for the first time this season and can now look forward to the Hong Kong tournament with confidence.
Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell said: “For the first time this season we finished where we were seeded and that gives us something to work on as we prepare for Hong Kong next weekend.
“We played some good rugby against New Zealand on day one and pushed Argentina to within one score on day two.
“The players all now know that it’s all down to very small margins at this level as Argentina went onto the Cup semi-finals.
“It sounds strange by looking at the results but we have plenty to build on ahead of next week.”
Scotland dominated the opening exchanges against Japan, scoring through Lee Jones and Andrew Turnbull. Mike Adamson converted both.
Japan came back into the contest and scored three unconverted tries to edge them in front by a single point.
But it was Watsonian Michael Fedo who saved the day by touching down at the death to clinch the victory. Adamson coolly slotted the conversion though it was not required.
In their second outing of the day, the Scots faced the world’s sixth-ranked side, Kenya.
Despite conceding an early unconverted try, Scotland stayed in the game. Their efforts eventually bore fruit when Rory Hutton crossed the whitewash and Adamson converted.
Struan Dewar was next to score to give Scotland a seven-point advantage. But Kenya retaliated and Scotland duly conceded a converted try to tie the match.
Four tries ensued for the Kenyans, two of which were converted, as Scotland faded having competed much of day three with a depleted squad through injury.
 
Scotland 7s team V Japan: Struan Dewar (Heriot's)**, Lewis Calder (London Scottish), Michael Fedo (Watsonians), Mike Adamson*, Rory Hutton (Heriot's)**, Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
Substitutes: Ross Curle (Ayr) for Hutton, Peter Jericevich (Glasgow Hawks)** for Jones
Scotland 7s team v Kenya: Struan Dewar (Heriot's)**, Lewis Calder (London Scottish), Michael Fedo (Watsonians), Mike Adamson*, Rory Hutton (Heriot's)**, Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
Substitutes: Ross Curle (Ayr) for Hutton, Peter Jericevich (Glasgow Hawks)** for Turnbull
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)
* = Scotland 7s contracted player
** = Member of Scottish Rugby's National Academy
IRB Adelaide Sevens, Pool A: New Zealand, Argentina, Scotland, Tonga
Scotland’s Pool A fixtures on days one and two (19-20 March) of the IRB Adelaide Sevens:
New Zealand 31-0 Scotland
Argentina 14-7 Scotland
Scotland 7-22 Tonga
Scotland’s fixtures on day three (Sunday 21 March) of the IRB Adelaide Sevens
Bowl Quarter Final: Scotland 21-15 Japan
Bowl Semi Final: Kenya 36-12 Scotland
 

This article was posted on 21-Mar-2010, 13:31 by Hugh Barrow.