Saturday, 22 May 2010
POOL D, GAME 1 - AUSTRALIA 43-17 SCOTLAND
Scotland 7s have lost their opening game on day one of the Emirates Airline London 7s – the penultimate leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
Despite having their strongest squad of the season, most have not experience seven-a-side rugby since this time twelve months ago.
Australia adopted a high-tempo start to the game as the Scots stood off tackles.
A knock-on from Greig Laidlaw after the ball had been tapped back at the re-start game gave ACT Brumbies flanker Henry Vanderglas the chance to run in for the first score of the game. 5-0.
Scotland rallied, however, and as Mark Robertson ripped the ball in contact, he sent a nicely timed pass out to captain Scott Forrest who ran in from 40 yards. 5-5.
Scotland then took the lead through a first-class try from John Houston.
The ball was spun wide to the Edinburgh centre who ran a straight angle into the Aussie defence where he broke through two defenders and stepped the sweeper to score. Adamson converted. 5-12.
But Australia, always one of the least popular sides on the World Series, crossed twice among the light-hearted boo’s of the Twickenham crowd, to take the lead at half-time. The first came from Clinton Sills, the second from James Stannard. 15-12.
Half-time score: Australia 15-12 Scotland
Following the second-half re-start, Australia crossed in the first phase of play. Simple pace on the outside of Mike Adamson was enough for Sills to grab his second of the day so far.
The second try of the second half was a first for day one of the sevens – a hat-trick!
Sills was the man to notch the try trio as he twice received the ball out in space – charging his way towards the line. 29-12.
Scotland again tried to regain the lead, but this time it wasn’t to be.
Throughout a period of good ball retention, they adopted a stop-start attack which sucked in enough Aussie defenders to allow Andrew Turnbull space on the left flank to run in. 29-17.
The second half ended just as the first had begun with Scotland falling off tackles and Australia scoring tries.
The lack of conviction at the contact area saw Brackin Karauria-Henry cross the whitewash whilst Vanderglas closed the scoring having opened it 14 minutes earlier. 43-17.
Fulltime score: Australia 43-17 Scotland
Scotland 7s v Australia: Scott Forrest, Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mike Adamson, Colin Shaw, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh)
Subs: Ally Hogg (Edinburgh) for Forrest, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh) for Robertson and Alex Blair (Edinburgh Accies) for Adamson
POOL D, GAME 2 – ENGLAND 36-10 SCOTLAND
Scotland entered their second match of the day with more fire in their bellies compared to the first.
Some good ball retention resulted in a break for Mark Robertson. Despite his resulting offload appearing to spill forward, the referee had spotted that the forward motion came from English intervention and thus Colin Shaw received the ball and stretched over the line. 0-5.
Shaw was the man to grab Scotland’s second try of the match and put the Scots 10 points into the lead, much to the surprise of the sun-drenched home fans at Twickenham.
Greig Laidlaw spotted Shaw in acres of space and sent the ball towards the winger who ran in from distance. 0-10.
But England took stock and ran in two tries before the break to even the scores out.
A Mike Adamson re-start went out on the full and England chose to take a quick tap penalty at the half-way line. As they advanced, their penultimate attacked was brought to ground by Laidlaw before Christian Wade dotted down. 5-10.
The final try of the half was to be a momentous one for its scorer. Similar to the previous one, this time Ben Gollings was on the receiving end to claim his 200th IRB Sevens World Series try. 10-10.
Half-time score: England 10-10 Scotland
With things level at half-time, England sought to seal another win on home soil having already seen off the challenge of Russia earlier in the day.
Ally Hogg conceded a soft penalty on the England 22, from where the home side mounted their attack.
They won territory as the seconds ticked by working through the phases using patient, yet physical, play.
Gollings eventually spotted space in behind the Scotland defence and sent a neat little chip through for James Rodwell who gave chase and touched down. 17-10.
A diagonal solo run to the line by Mat Turner preceded a Tom Varndell double which killed-off any chance Scotland had of catching the home side. 24-10.
The home crowd rose to its feet as Varndell rounded Lee Jones to score his first before a nice flip-pass out from contact gave him the ball which he scooped up and carried over the line for his second. 36-10.
Fulltime score: England 36-10 Scotland
Scotland 7s v England: Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mike Adamson, Colin Shaw, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh)
Subs: Chris Fusaro (Heriot's) for Hogg, Alex Blair (Edinburgh Accies) for Adamson and Lee Jones (Selkirk) for Robertson 
Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series in London (22 & 23 May) and Edinburgh (29 & 30 May): Scott Forrest CAPTAIN*, Mike Adamson*, Alex Blair (Edinburgh Accies)**, Chris Fusaro (Heriot's)**, Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Colin Shaw*, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)
* = Scotland 7s contracted player
** = Member of Scottish Rugby's National Academy
Pool D - Emirates Airline London 7s
Australia, England, Scotland, Russia
Scotland's Pool D fixtures on day one of the Emirates Airline London 7s
Australia v Scotland (kick-off 12.42pm)
England v Scotland (kick-off 4.10pm)
Scotland v Russia (kick-off 6pm)
Pool C - Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s
USA, Fiji, Wales, Scotland
Scotland's Pool C fixtures on day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s
Fiji v Scotland (kick-off 12.09pm)
USA v Scotland (kick-off 3.13pm)
Wales v Scotland (kick-off 7.01pm)
The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 29 and 30 May 2010. Tickets are available to by logging onto www.edinburgh7s.com by calling the 24-hour Ticket Hotline - 0844 335 3933 or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre, Gate A, Roseburn Street, Edinburgh (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).
Ticket prices
Adult one day advance ticket - £15 (£20 on the day).
One day student and under-18 - £10 and £5.
Senior citizen one day - £10.
Family one day advance ticket - £35 (two adults & two children).
All tickets are ANY DAY tickets - valid for either day of the event.
Tickets for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s are available to buy on match day.

This article was originally posted on 22-May-2010, 16:38 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 22-May-2010, 17:31.